


Unexpected

by kleinepfoetchen



Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28816599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kleinepfoetchen/pseuds/kleinepfoetchen
Summary: A new job leads Eliot and Parker into the world of the rich and mighty. While they adjust to the roles they have to play, they quickly realise that there is more to this job than they would have ever dared to imagine.
Relationships: Parker/Eliot Spencer (Leverage)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another old fic, also from 2013, I hope you enjoy reading (or re-reading) it. :D

Sometimes, at least so it seemed to Eliot, the clients could sense when Nate had finally agreed to a little break. A much needed break. All of them were working hard during their jobs, did as good as they could. Everyone needed a break somewhere along the line: time when they would be allowed to do whatever they liked, even if that meant doing nothing at all.

But whenever Nate got to the point of stating that now, finally, they could take a few days off, a new client would show up at McRory’s, demanding their help. And of course, being the good guy he was, Nate would agree to help. And if he didn’t do so, Sophie would.

This time was no exception. A woman, around Sophie’s age, had entered the bar, with a rather troubled face as she had approached the mastermind and grifter. Cathy Field was her name, and she didn’t meet them because she needed their help for herself.

No, Cathy Field had a friend, and said friend needed their support, although it wouldn’t appear to outsiders that way. Cathy was convinced that the team had to step in, because she didn’t know which other possible options she had.

And so, Sophie had agreed to do exactly that, before Nate had even gotten the chance to think about an answer. He hadn’t been too surprised. Such a story just had to catch her attention.

“And I don’t see what’s wrong with that,” the grifter said as the team gathered on the couches in Nate’s apartment and he confronted her with his thoughts. “Cathy cares for her friend. She deserves our help.”

“Yeah, but...” Nate started, just to be interrupted by his girlfriend again.

“But it doesn’t appear that Heather Newman even has a problem in the first place?” Sophie shook her head at him. “That’s typical for a man. You just look at the surface, not beyond it. Yes, Heather Newman is married to one of the riches men in Boston. While he’s doing all his dirty work, she can stay at their manor and spend all the money. Paradise for every woman, right? You’re wrong. It’s not like that. You heard what Cathy said. Heather was forced into this marriage because her parents and the ones of Michael Newman arranged it. Two rich families marrying their children. That’s not as unusual as you think, Nate! And when you’re in, you can’t just get out again. Heather is stuck in a cold, heartless marriage for two decades already! Can you imagine what it does to the soul if you’re together with someone who’s supposed to love you, but who only uses you as some kind of status symbol because you’re pretty and have money? She’s nothing else for him. He doesn’t care for her at all. He just focuses on his business and the money, and uses her to look even better. Cathy wants us to help the woman out, because there’s no way for her to get out by herself.”

“So you want us to help Heather get out of this marriage while we take down a bad businessman as well,” Nate completed for her.

Sophie nodded. “Exactly. It’s what we do: taking down the bad guys. Whether or not we do that because we want to help his wife doesn’t matter.”

Prepared to defend her idea even further, she looked at the rest of the team. Neither of them dared to argue with her though, knowing very well they couldn’t win anyway.

“So you plan on getting to the guy through said woman,” Hardison said then.

Sophie, satisfied that no one bothered to argue with her anymore, nodded again. “Yes. After so many years in this marriage, she probably doesn’t even realise how unhappy she is anymore. That’s how it seemed to Cathy as well. So we’re going to remind her of it.”

“That’s not exactly nice,” Nate stated.

Sophie sighed. “We’re just giving her the strength to realise that she has to get out. We’ll remind her of what she really wants, until she wants it so badly that she can’t handle it anymore. I’m pretty sure she knows that what her husband is doing isn’t right. We’ll offer her a way out if she gives us all the information we need. Then she can punish him for all those horrible years, we can take him down and she can finally leave. It’s the perfect solution.”

“What’s it that she always wanted though?” Parker wanted to know.

Sophie smiled. “She wants love. True love. And we’ll give that to her. At least we’ll show it to her.”

Eliot rolled his eyes at her words. “Yeah, and why exactly do you want me and Parker to pose as the married couple then? Why’s it not you and Nate doing it? At least you’re really together.”

“But it’s the two of you we need,” Sophie explained, her smile widening. “You’re perfect. I mean, let’s be honest to ourselves: you’re younger than Nate and I.”

Hardison chuckled. “Leave it to Sophie to compliment and insult within one sentence.”

Ignoring his comment, Sophie continued, “You’re going to represent what she always wanted: a perfect marriage. You, Eliot, are going to be the rich single man, who ran into Parker, a beautiful but poor librarian. You couldn’t stop thinking about her, and you had to meet her again. You fell in love with each other and got married a couple of months ago. It’s true love.”

“That sounds like some cheap romance novel.” Eliot shuddered. “It’s totally overdone. This is a job, not some script for a musical!”

“It’s perfect like that because it’s the opposite of what Heather has,” Sophie defended her idea. “It’ll work, believe me.”

“And how do you want them to get the information we need?” Nate wanted to know, studying his girlfriend curiously. “How do you want them to convince Heather that she has enough and that there’s actually a way out.”

“They’re going to earn her trust,” Sophie stated.

“Earning someone’s trust?” Parker’s eyes widened.

“You’re not going to be alone in this!” Sophie sighed once more.

“Technically, we are alone in this,” Eliot said. “So what are we going to do? You said we’ll attend that party weekend you mentioned.”

“It’s not a party weekend.” Sophie shook her head at him. “From Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, he’ll invite rich people over to his manor, to make new ‘friends’, so to speak. To find new business partners, to be more exact. You’ll spend your time at the manor, with fancy dinners, tea hours and lovely get-togethers. It’s the perfect way to get to know each other, and the perfect way to earn someone’s trust without being too obvious. Don’t look at me like that! It’s not that hard. You have us with you all the time through the earbuds. We’ll tell you what to do and what to say if you need us to, like we always do.”

Parker didn’t look convinced at all. Eliot couldn’t blame her for that. A short grifter job? That was okay. Adapting to roles for an entire long weekend? That was a different story. And they had to be convincing, especially when it came to the romance parts.

“Come on!” Sophie groaned. “What’s your problem? I’ll help you. We all will. And if this is about playing a couple...every actor or actress can do that. Even the really bad ones.”

“Some kisses here, some touches there.” Grinning, Hardison winked.

“That’s obviously not enough if we have to be as convincing as Sophie wants us to be,” Eliot shot back.

“Stop complaining already,” Sophie stated. “You’ll do just fine. I know you will.”

Neither Eliot nor Parker bothered to reply to that. They knew they didn’t have another choice: the job had to be done, and who had to go in was decided already. Whether or not they would succeed this time though was a different question.

Within the following days, the team prepared the new job. Sophie was engrossed in their plan, and showed an almost overwhelming enthusiasm in explaining their roles to Eliot and Parker, to the point when both of them were almost grateful as the day of heading to the manor had finally come.

“You’re sure that cover is going to work?” Eliot wanted to know as he and Hardison went through his background story again. His friend looked almost offended by his question.

“Of course, man.” He shook his head. “You took over your Daddy’s company. I’ve spent hours with setting everything up. It’s perfect!”

Eliot just shrugged in response. He couldn’t deny he still wasn’t too pleased by Sophie’s idea to let him and Parker take over the role as grifters. Not for several days. They’d have to get used to those roles, had to stay in it all the time. There was no way back though. Posing in different roles was a major part of their job.

“Gentlemen,” Sophie said then, interrupting him in his thoughts as she made her way down the spiral stairs that led to Nate’s bedroom. “I’d like to present my masterpiece to you.” She smiled proudly as she added, “Come downstairs, Parker!”

“No,” was the immediate answer. “I’m not coming downstairs! I look totally...silly.”

Sophie released a deep sigh. “No, you don’t, Parker. You look perfect. Come downstairs!”

Parker mumbled something in response. A mild curse followed then, before the sound of footsteps finally announced she was about to do like she was told. Slowly to not trip over her own feet in the high heels she was wearing, she made her way downstairs.

“See? Totally silly.” She pouted as she reached the bottom of the stairs. But even her facial expression couldn’t ruin her appearance. Sophie had picked a simple, sleeveless dress that ended shortly above her knees. Her hair wasn’t pulled back in a ponytail but falling down onto her shoulders in soft waves. To sum it up, she looked stunning.

“Why are you staring at me?” Parker asked nervously as she didn’t get a vocal agreement from her friends. “Is it that bad? I didn’t want to dress up like that, and I don’t get why I have to. I mean, Eliot just has to wear a suit, that’s all. I don’t get why I...”

“Parker,” Eliot interrupted her. “It’s not stupid at all. You look fantastic. Believe me.”

“Really?” Parker didn’t look convinced.

“Yeah,” he stated, forcing himself to look away. “Let’s go though.”

Sighing deeply, Parker grabbed her suitcase.

\-----------------

They had left almost an hour ago. When Parker had spotted the limousine the team had ordered just for this day, she had gotten excited for a moment. Said excitement had faded away as soon as she had entered the luxurious car though, because realisation had hit her once again: she would do what Sophie usually did. She of all people. How was she supposed to do that, when she already hated wearing those dresses Sophie had picked for her? Her friend had packed her suitcases, and Parker was afraid of the moment she would have to open it to see what it contained.

She threw a short glance at the man sitting next to her. Eliot didn’t look too impressed either, but by far not as nervous as her. How easily would he adjust to the roles they would have to play? Did he believe they would be able to earn the couple’s trust and help Heather out? She couldn’t tell. For Parker, looking through people was difficult in general. Figuring out what was going inside his mind though was almost impossible most of the time.

Parker was startled back to the present as the limousine stopped.

“Here we are,” Nate announced. Parker’s eyes widened in shock. She wasn’t ready for this job. Not at all.

“Don’t worry,” Sophie repeated what she had said at least a hundredth times already during the day. “You can do this, and we’re with you all the time. We’re going to help you out if we have to.”

“Yeah, fantastic,” Eliot sighed as he waited for Nate to open the door for him. “There’s no better backup than voices in your ear.” He shook his head as he left the car. By the time Nate helped her out as well, Parker’s legs felt so shaky that she doubted she would be able to make her way into the manor safely. A sigh of relief escaped her as Eliot appeared by her side and offered his arm to her. Firmly, she grabbed it, gratefully allowing him to guide her towards the entrance gate. Neither of them bothered to look back, expecting the urge to turn around and run would get too overwhelming.

Taking deep breaths, Parker tried to calm herself down again. Her self control was tested though as she got a clear view at the house that would be their temporary home. The manor was giant, almost looking like a castle. It was surrounded by what appeared to Parker as something like a park. If the front yard was that big already, she didn’t dare to imagine how large backyard for be. They weren’t the first arrivals either. Several people were already gathering in front of the building’s massive entrance door.

“I can’t do this,” Parker whispered, feeling the beginnings of a panic attack rising. “I can’t play a rich woman. I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to dress up like that. Or how they talk. Or how they look, and behave.” Her eyes widened in shock as another realisation hit her. “And...and, I can’t even eat! Not like rich people do. I...don’t understand all this stuff about all the glasses and forks and how to eat a lobster...”

“Parker!” Eliot interrupted her quietly. “Calm down, okay? It’s not that hard. I’m going to help you. Now calm down. We got a job to do!”

Parker just sighed in response. Once again, she couldn’t tell what Eliot was really thinking as he guided her over to the manor’s entrance. When exactly had he stopped complaining about their roles? But deep inside, she knew he was right. They had a job to do. No matter if she liked that or not.


	2. Chapter 2

He could feel Parker’s fingernails digging into his arm as they arrived at the large entrance of the manor. With wide eyes, she was staring ahead, starting to make Eliot nervous as well. What if she wasn’t able to control herself and would do something stupid? What if she blew up their covers because she’d panic? After all, it wouldn’t be the first time for her.

“Calm down finally,” he whispered firmly as they joined the group of people, feeling how her nervousness seemed to increase even more. “No one’s going to harm you. It’s alright.”

She nodded slightly. Eliot mentally cursed Sophie for what she had gotten them into. He had gotten much better at playing roles, but for Parker, some situations were still too tricky to handle.

“I’m fine,” she whispered. “I’m fine.” She sighed deeply. “No, I’m not. I’m going to mess this up. I’m so going to mess this up.”

Eliot resisted the urge to groan. Now would have been the perfect time for his team mates, mainly Sophie, who had gotten them into this situation in the first place, to step in. But of course, neither of them bothered to offer any support at all and stayed silent.

“No, you won’t,” he decided to say then. Gently, he freed his arm of her tight grip, just to wrap it around her shoulders and pull her closer. She didn’t try to shake him off, didn’t even tense at his supportive gesture. It was a reaction he had noticed already before. Parker stabbing him with a fork wasn’t a threat to him: if there was someone allowed to enter her personal space, it was him. Why else would she constantly approach him, sit next to him, unnecessarily close? And indeed, she physically relaxed, at least enough so that he didn’t have to worry she could freak out any longer.

The entrance door was opened then and out of the manor stepped the Newmans. Holding himself straight and dressed up in what seemed to be one of the most expensive suits one could buy, Michael Newman stepped in front of his guests, greeting them with a toothy, professional smile. Behind him appeared Heather Newman, wearing the most faked smile Eliot had ever seen. It even topped those Parker wore at times during jobs.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Newman spoke up, his voluminous voice causing immediate silence. All eyes were on him when he continued, “I’d like to welcome you to my humble house. I truly believe that you can only get far if you cooperate, if you have someone by your side, who offers you support and works hand in hand with you. Fortunately I have a loyal wife I can rely on.” Said professional smile grew for a second as he turned to his wife briefly before he added, “But I also firmly believe that you can never have enough friends by your side either. I wouldn’t be where I’m now without those. And because of this, ladies and gentlemen, I invited you to spend a lovely weekend at my manor. May new friendships form.” With those words, he stepped aside, making an inviting gesture. “Please, feel at home. The housemates will show you where your rooms are.”

Eliot fought against the urge to roll his eyes as he led Parker inside. The man’s speech had made him cringe in disgust. Of course, Freeman could never have enough friends that would help him with his dirty businesses. Made things much easier if he had people who’d protect him if he needed them to.

“Wow,” Parker gasped as one of the housemates led them through the manor’s entrance hall. “That’s one hell of a house...”

“Don’t forget to put up the cameras and bugs,” Hardison reminded them.

“Believe it or not, but we do know how to do our job as well,” Eliot replied, shaking his head. They followed the housemate to the first floor. Leaving the other guests behind, Parker slowly seemed to calm down again. Eliot had the suspicion that the sparkly items that were surrounding them now could be blamed for that as well.

“No stealing, Parker,” Nate said then, startling the thief.

“He can’t read your mind,” Eliot said quickly before she got a chance to blurt out what she was thinking. “It’s just clear that there’d be a lot of interesting stuff around here.”

“And I know it’s hard for you to resist, but stealing is a no-go during this job,” Nate continued. “You’re supposed to earn their trust, not to make them doubt their guests.” He ignored the frustrated sound she made in response.

“Here we are,” the housemate announced then, stopping in front of one of the large doors. Offering a key to them, she added, “Welcome to Mr. Newman’s house. If you need anything, just call for Sharon.” 

Using her own key, she unlocked the door and let them in. Neither Eliot nor Parker heard how the door was closed behind them though, or realised that their suitcases had already been taken upstairs while they had listened to Newman’s speech. The room they had just entered had simply made them speechless.

“That’s big like an entire house!” Parker gasped as she took in her surroundings with huge eyes. Indeed, the bedroom was huge, and so was the bed at its opposite end. A small door at the left led into what looked like a bathroom. Behind a large panorama window, they could spot their very own balcony, with what they assumed would be a fantastic view across the backyard.

“Look at all the pretty stuff!” she said impressed, slowly and carefully making her way further into the room. “Nate, can’t I...”

“No stealing, Parker,” he repeated his words, more firmly this time.

She pouted for a second, but shrugged then. Her annoyed expression was replaced by a big grin instead as she ran across the room and with a squeal jumped onto the bed. Eliot couldn’t hold back an amused smile at her obvious excitement.

“I guess you like the room?” he asked as he made his way over to the bed as well, taking the earbud out. This room was definitely a suitable home for the weekend. In here, they could hide from all those rich people, could recover from having to play their roles in front of the Newmans and the other guests. They had another two hours until dinner would be served in what he assumed would be an equally big dining room. Enough time for some relaxing and getting prepared for the job.

Parker had already gotten up again and was exploring the rest of the bedroom when Eliot let himself fall onto the soft covers of the bed. Stress was ahead, that was for sure. It was part of their job though, and said job had to be done. Closing his eyes, he tried to block out his surroundings. He would be able to play his role. Even though Hardison was good at driving him crazy at times, he was also good at doing his job. The background story would work. He just had to play along with it. This job wouldn’t be their most difficult one.

Fast steps announced that Parker was on her way over to him again. The entire bed moved as she jumped onto it.

“Hey, are you asleep?” she wanted to know, poking him into the cheek.

“Yeah,” Eliot answered. “Stop that poking.”

“Oh, come on.” Parker sighed deeply. “It’s the middle of the day! You can’t just lie here like that. It’s boring!”

“Parker, we got a stressful job ahead,” he replied, not bothering to open his eyes. “I want to relax a bit before I go down there and pretend to be a rich businessman.”

She was quiet for a moment, but he could feel she was still staring. Slight discomfort started to rise inside him; when Parker was quiet for longer than a minute, trouble was ahead most of the time.

“Get up!” she ordered eventually. “I’m getting bored.”

“Can’t you just sit still for once and do nothing?” Eliot asked back. He groaned as she started to move again, bouncing up and down on her half of the bed. “Stop that!”

“Make me.” Opening his eyes, he found her grinning down at him. He rolled his eyes at her. There were times when Parker proved that she was indeed a grown up woman, was capable of understanding complex themes, at least when it came to their jobs. But then, she would always return to being her crazy self sooner or later, finding yet a new way to get onto his nerves.

“I am going to make you if you don’t stop the bouncing,” he growled at her.

Parker giggled. “Well, you have to catch me first.” Her grin widened as she bounced even more, reaching over to him at the same time, once more poking him. With one quick movement, Eliot pushed himself up into a sitting position. His arms wrapped around her, catching her mid-jump. She squealed as he flipped her over and pinned her into the mattress, holding her carefully enough so that she could easily free herself if she wanted to. Even though Parker didn’t mind being touched by him, he didn’t want to risk going too far and scaring her. The grin he received in response told him though that he was far away from doing so.

“Will you stop now?” Eliot asked, trying his best to keep a straight face.

Parker shook her head firmly. “Let me go,” she ordered, obviously unable to stop herself from grinning: that wicked little grin she always used whenever she was proud of herself or planning to drive one of them crazy.

“Only if you promise to behave,” he told her. She had stopped wiggling beneath him, was now just staring up at him with those huge, sparkling eyes. It didn’t happen often that he got a chance to be that close to her, face to face, and he never failed to notice what a beautiful woman she was whenever he got such a close look at her.

“I can’t promise that,” Parker replied like expected.

“Then you got to stay where you are.” Eliot couldn’t resist of a smirk of his own.

“I don’t think so,” she said, and without a further warning, she shot upwards, her lips crashing onto his. Shocked by the unexpected attack, he let go of her. Before he had completely recovered, she had already left the bed, studying him with a grin.

“What the hell...” Eliot managed to say eventually.

“Sophie taught me how to do that,” Parker explained. “Works all the time, she said. Will you finally stop being boring now?”

Eliot rolled his eyes in response. He knew: Parker wouldn’t allow him to relax. She was stubborn as hell, and he would just have to deal with that.

“Don’t ever do that again,” he told her with a glare.

She just laughed in response.

\---------------

Dinner time had arrived faster than Parker had expected. She and Eliot had made their way through the house after having a closer look at their bedroom and having planted the bugs and cameras all over the house, much to Hardison’s satisfaction.

During those few hours, Parker had managed to calm down again. So far, she hadn’t had to deal with any other of the guests. The urge to grab some of the shiny items she could see everywhere and either take them, hide or rearrange them was too tempting, but she knew if she didn’t want to have Nate’s voice in her ear all the time, she had to focus on something else.

Then, dinner time had approached, and her nervousness had reappeared forcefully. Clinging to Eliot’s arm, she had allowed him to lead her inside. Sitting next to him, she tried to look elsewhere but the other people, joining them at the table. She knew: sooner or later, they would start asking questions about them. Questions that needed to be answered.

According to Sophie’s plan, her new name was Alice Cole, formerly working as a librarian, married to Ray Cole, who had taken over his father’s company. According to Hardison their background story was safe, that he had thought of all the details. Parker dearly hoped he was right as she listened to Eliot repeating said story to introduce himself to the other guests at their table.

“My wife’s a little nervous,” he said then, and she could hear the slight warning in his voice, directed at her. “She’s not been to many events like that.”

Taking a deep breath, Parker forced herself to look up, remembering that Sophie had told her more than once that avoiding eye contact was rude. Almost, she regretted her decision as she realised that their marks were sitting at their table as well. She tried her best to smile, dearly hoping her face wouldn’t turn bright red. What was she supposed to say? And even if she knew, would she get the words out so they actually made sense?

“Don’t forget to behave like a couple,” Sophie’s voice said then. “The two of you have to get used to that. It’s your relationship we want to use to make Heather jealous. Just do the little things we’ve been talking about. Little gestures here and there. Don’t forget about that.”

Parker bit her tongue to prevent herself from replying. Yes, she knew that Sophie wanted them to behave like they were in love with each other. This included glances and smiles, touching and occasional kisses. But at the moment, she simply felt overwhelmed. How was she supposed to think about such details when she didn’t even know what to say?

Fortunately, she didn’t have to come up with a response as one of the housemates appeared at their table and the attention of the guests turned back to them. She released the breath she’d been holding.

“You’re still nervous?” Eliot asked quietly. As Parker nodded, he moved closer. Placing a hand on top of hers, he leant in further. Throwing a quick glance into Newman’s direction, he placed a lingering kiss onto her cheek before he added, “It’s not that hard, no need to be nervous. You see the forks for example? And the knives? You start from the outside and work your way inside. The spoon and fork above your plate are for dessert. You got that?”

Parker nodded again. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tried to focus. The situation was still affecting her. So did the sudden closeness between them. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek, tickling her lightly. He had touched her before, like earlier in their bedroom, but the way his hand was resting on top of hers was new, too. He was distracting her, and staying focused got even harder.

“What else?” she finally asked, and concentrating as good as possible, she listened to what he explained to her.

Fortunately, dinner passed without any further interruptions. Parker had struggled at times with the food that had been served, and more than once had almost knocked over either her glass or her plate. Thanks to Eliot by her side though, she had made her way through dinner without causing any major trouble.

After a while, she had even managed to participate in small talk. Sophie had told her via the earbud what to say, which questions to ask and how to respond. With the support of her friend, small talk hadn’t felt as horrible as she had expected it to, and after the first half an hour, she had started to relax.

She had also realised that the closeness between her and Eliot, which was needed to portray a married couple in love, was no longer a distracting problem for her either. Instead, he helped her to relax with being within her reach. He provided the stability she needed so desperately in this new and overwhelming situation. She liked those moments when he took her hand, brushed her hair out of her face or even kissed her. She wasn’t alone in this.

Still, she was grateful as dinner was finally over and the guests returned to their own businesses. Excusing themselves with the explanation that they had had a long day, Parker and Eliot headed back to their room. In relief, she sighed as they locked the doors behind them.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, right?” Eliot asked, putting his earbud out before he dragged his suitcase over to the bed. Parker, not bothering to do the same, started to open hers in the middle of the room.

“Could’ve been worse,” she admitted. Pushing the dresses aside, she frowned. “Why didn’t Sophie pack my pyjamas? That stuff here isn’t mine.” With narrowed eyebrows, she studied the small, silky pants that didn’t look much bigger than panties to her, and the matching camisole. The fabric was nice, but who slept in tiny clothes like that if they could have a pyjama instead? Or a decent t-shirt.

“Maybe Sophie wants to make sure we appear rich all the time,” Eliot answered while investigating his own sleeping clothes, which also looked a lot finer and more expensive than what she assumed he usually wore in bed. “For the case we run into someone at night.”

“Who should that be?” She shrugged, digging further through her suitcase as Eliot headed into the bathroom. Eventually, she decided to go with the silky sleeping clothes Sophie had picked for her. She resisted the urge to put the earbud back in and complain about her friend’s poor choices: she was simply too tired for that. Finally dressed, she studied herself in the tall mirror. The stuff didn’t look bad, but still strange. Such stuff fitted to Sophie, but not to her. She turned around as the bathroom door was opened again.

“Look,” Parker said, pointing at herself. “Do I look like a rich woman in that?”

With a raised eyebrow, he studied her for a moment. Giving her a look she couldn’t quite interpret then, he answered, “Looks good on you.” He returned to their bed and slid under the covers. “Come on, let’s catch some sleep. Long day’s ahead of us. And don’t do anything silly again. No jumping. Stay on your half of the bed.”

Parker rolled her eyes at him, which he didn’t see though as he only looked at her again by the time she had joined him under the covers as well. She wiggled around for a bit until she was comfortable. Then, she wrapped the blanket around herself and snuggled into her pillow. A chuckle escaped her.

“What is it?” he wanted to know.

“The bed’s strange,” she said. “It’s so...fluffy. And soft. I like it, but it’s weird.”

Eliot glanced at her, studying her in silence for a while. She couldn’t help the thought that he tried his best not to smile as he answered, “Go to sleep now. You’re surely tired. Even you have to get tired somewhere along the line.” With those words, he switched the lamp on the bedside table off. Yawning lightly, Parker closed her eyes. Exhaustion took over faster than she had expected, and a few minutes later, she had indeed fallen asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Eliot woke up the next morning, the sun was already shining, announcing that obviously, he had slept longer than intended. Fortunately, neither of them had to hurry. There was no strict schedule for them to follow: only lunch and dinner would be served on time.

Michael Newman was interested in finding new business partners, and preferred to approach them for little private talks. Privacy was important for men like him. It was an open secret that what was going on behind the scenes wasn’t officially okay like that, but no one wanted to expose themselves and risk getting into trouble.

Grateful for the quiet that greeted him, Eliot mentally replayed the events of the previous day. So far, they had done quite a good job at playing their roles. There hadn’t been a chance to get closer to the Newmans yet, but the first contact had been made. One step after the other.

Whether or not they would eventually get what they wanted was a different question of course. No one could know for sure if they managed to earn the Newmans’ trust, and then would be able to convince Heather that she had enough of her marriage.

They had to be convincing, more than usually. Playing a married couple was definitely a challenge, but Eliot had to admit it was easier than he had imagined. Sophie had told them to start with focusing on the little details first. They had done so the previous night, and had slowly started to get used to interacting with each other that way.

Thinking of Parker made him open his eyes. It was unusual that she hadn’t made a noise yet. He didn’t know whether or not she was an early riser. Had she maybe left the room and was doing something she shouldn’t? The idea made him roll his eyes. Sometimes, being around her was like taking care of a kid. How could someone get that excited by rearranging stuff for example? At least she hadn’t returned to her habit of poking him yet, why ever she liked to do that. Probably to test his nerves and see what he’d do to make her stop, knowing very well he’d never just knock her out.

Turning to the other half of the bed, he realised in relief that she hadn’t tried to sneak out yet. He could still see her blond hair, nothing else though. Her half of the blanket was tightly wrapped around her, and had been pulled up far enough to cover her almost completely. It was obvious she hadn’t woken up yet, and for a moment, Eliot felt the strong urge to change that, just to pay her back for all the times she had gotten on his nerves already. Startling her awake didn’t seem to be a good option though. Who knew how she’d react to that?

Instead, he moved closer carefully. Grabbing the edge of her blanket, he pulled it down until he could see her face, partly covered by her curls. He couldn’t resist the smile that lit his face at this sight. She was adorable, there was no way to deny that. Obviously she had as much of a light sleep as him though: the first sunrays that got in contact with her face made her frown. She tried to pull the blanket over her face again, but failed as he kept it where it was.

“What are you trying to do?” he asked, amused, by the glare she flashed him. “You can’t breath properly in there.”

“I can breath well, thank you very much,” she mumbled. “Let go! I want to sleep.”

“Oh, you want to sleep?” Eliot couldn’t help but grin as he watched her, fighting with the blanket. “And you want me to give that blanket back? I don’t see why I should do that though. I mean, you also never listen when I’m telling you to stop, right? Like when you’re poking me. Or bouncing around. Or doing other annoying stuff.” He laughed as she tried to hit him, catching her wrist just in time to prevent her from really slapping him. “And that’s how you deal with it? Nice try.”

“Let. Me. Sleep!” she demanded.

“Make me,” he repeated her earlier words. With a grin, he added, “Why don’t you just kiss me again? Didn’t Sophie say that works all the time?” With those words, he released the blanket from his grip, his grin widening as she pulled it back over her head with a growl. He knew very well that nothing could teach her a lesson, at least not when it came to the fact that she had to stop testing people’s nerves.

A knock on the door interrupted him in his thoughts then. “Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Cole,” the familiar voice of their housemate said through the door. “It’s Sharon, delivering breakfast for you.”

“I didn’t order breakfast,” Parker growled from under the blanket. “Send her away!”

Eliot grinned. “Well, I do want breakfast. You don’t need to have anything of it.”

He got up and made his way over to the bedroom door. Sharon greeted him with a smile and a trolley. “I’ll take care of that,” he said. Nodding politely, still with a smile plastered across her face, Sharon left again. 

Impressed by the amount of food that had been delivered, Eliot wheeled the trolley over to the bed. He could see the blanket move as Parker uncovered her head for a moment, just to disappear again as soon as he looked up. His grin returned.

“I wonder who’s supposed to eat all that,” he stated. “Should do fine though, as no one else’s interested.” He climbed back into bed and pulled the trolley closer. The smell was tempting, and he could almost sense Parker’s frustration.

“Life would be so much easier if you weren’t that stubborn, huh?” he teased her then. Reaching for her, he pulled the blanket down again. “Come on, don’t act like a kid. That’s too much for one person anyway.”

She glared at him, sitting up though and accepting the plate he offered to her. Shaking his head at her, he turned his attention back to his own food. Yes, she was good at driving him crazy. But, even though he would never admit it, he couldn’t deny he didn’t want her to be any different either.

\----------------

Parker couldn’t deny she still didn’t feel entirely comfortable with the role she had to play. Even though she had Sophie in her ear, telling her what to say, that didn’t mean she was actually convincing. Fortunately, Sophie had told her to stay around Eliot for the beginning, to adjust to their played relationship.

This part of the game was rather easy. Playing Eliot’s wife was easier than she had expected. She didn’t mind his closeness, didn’t mind touching or kissing. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, Sophie had changed her mind. Obviously, Newman had started to show interest in them, which, according to the grifter, increased their chances of turning Heather’s attention to them as well. It was Eliot’s job now to approach the man, start conversations, talk about the fake company Hardison had set up for him and convince the man that being partners would be something he could benefit from.

Meanwhile, Parker’s job was to explore as well. She had tried to argue with Sophie, saying that she could just stay by his side and listen. After all, shouldn’t they appear everywhere together, to be a convincing couple? Nate had agreed with Sophie though. She had to approach the other women, which would eventually lead to her being able to talk to Heather as well.

“Come on, Parker,” Sophie’s voice said. “Don’t be shy. Just go to them, have some small talk. It’s not that difficult.”

“Not for you,” Parker hissed as she made her way through the manor alone. It amazed her how much she had gotten used to Eliot’s presence. Being all by herself felt strange, in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. “How should I go to them in the first place? I mean, you don’t just go to them and say ‘Hey, want to talk?’, right?”

“Don’t make this more complicated than it is, Parker,” Nate told her. “They’re in the drawing room, upstairs.”

Parker rolled her eyes. She knew this tone in Nate’s voice. There was work that had to be done, and it was her job to get going. Eliot was already busy with his own part in this game; according to what she could hear through the earbud, he was having a conversation with Newman about their businesses. Without needing anyone to tell him what to say. Obviously going through the story a couple of times had been enough for him.

Sighing deeply, Parker made her way upstairs. The manor itself was beautiful she had to admit. A little too big for her taste: who needed all this space, all these rooms after all? One needed a room for a bed, maybe a little place for cooking, if one wanted to cook in the first place, and a bathroom. Who needed a drawing room?

The door to said room was wide open. Hesitantly, she stepped closer. A group of women stood nearby, another one, which Heather was a part of, stood a little further away. The first group looked up briefly, one woman made eye contact with Parker, before she turned back to her friends.

“What I won’t ever like,” the woman said, “are those women who move into a better position just because they marry a rich man.”

“I know exactly what you’re talking about,” another woman said. “Unlike us! We’re coming from generations of successful families. Our families built up their businesses with their own hands. We grew up with this. We belong into this world.”

The first woman nodded firmly. “Yes, we did. This is the world we belong in.” She threw another glance into Parker’s direction, a smirk tearing at the corners of her mouth as she added, “Unlike other women. Like poor librarians that try whatever trick in the book to catch themselves a rich man and marry into our world.” She shrugged. “Either you’re born into this world or you aren’t. Or you work your way up. But getting into it through tricking the right man into marrying you...I’m sorry, but such a woman won’t ever fit in with us. I fairly doubt someone like that will ever be welcome or accepted.”

She smirked again before she changed the topic. Parker stared at the group in silence, speechless and for a moment unable to move. She didn’t need Sophie to point out that the women had been talking about her. The fact that they didn’t seem to like her didn’t bother her; she had never given much on people’s opinion. But a few of their words had hit her close to home, and the piercing pain their words had caused deep within her was quickly joined by a thick lump in her throat.

“Parker, what are you doing?” Sophie’s voice asked.

Parker didn’t know if her friends said more, and she didn’t care. Wordlessly, she took the earbud out. Then she turned around and left.

\-----------------

Taking down Newman was something Eliot was already eagerly looking forward to. The man was a master example of those guys they chose as their marks: arrogant, selfish, focused on only his benefit. Every exchanged word with this man proved that to Eliot, making it hard for him to keep up his faked smile and pretend he was just like the man in question.

“It’s good to have international friends,” Newman just said, taking another sip from his drink. “Especially in a country like San Lorenzo.”

Eliot nodded in response. This little detail was something he and Hardison had worked on together. The General had happily agreed to cover their story if they needed to, convinced that he owned them even more now.

“Yeah, indeed,” he said. Before he got the chance to add more though, Nate’s voice in his ear distracted him.

“Eliot, go after Parker and check what’s wrong with her,” the mastermind said. “She put her earbud out and ran to your bedroom.”

Eliot’s eyes widened in surprise. What had happened now? And how big was the damage caused by it? For a brief moment, a faint memory found its way into his mind. Had she stabbed someone with a fork again because said person had gotten too close to her? Slight panic was rising inside him as he forced himself to smile and say, “Excuse me, I should go looking for my wife. I’ve promised her to not leave her alone for too long.”

Newman nodded, rolling his eyes. “Women, right? We should continue this conversation later though.”

“Yeah, absolutely.” Resisting to shoot a glare at the man in front of him, Eliot turned around and headed for the stairs, hurrying up as he had put enough distance between himself and the mark.

“What happened?” he asked then.

“We don’t know,” Nate answered. “She was supposed to join the women in the drawing room, to make first contact with Heather. But she just stood in the doorway until she suddenly put the earbud out and left. We couldn’t tell what went wrong. We couldn’t hear what was said either.”

Eliot mentally cursed himself for the fact that they had obviously forgotten to plant a microphone in the drawing room in addition to the camera.

“I’m on it,” he said as he hurried upstairs. For a brief moment, he hesitated as he arrived at their bedroom. Was it a good idea to go in there when Parker had obviously chosen the room as her hiding place after whatever had upset her? Deciding that now wasn’t the right moment for hesitation though, he opened the door and let himself in.

He found Parker lying on their bed, facing the wall. She didn’t react to his presence at all. He paused for another moment. Eliot was aware of the fact that if she wanted to, Parker was able to hide her feelings in front of the others. He had noticed more than once that she had been upset because of something but had tried to cover that. Only tiny hints had revealed to him how she had really felt. Now, she didn’t even try to hide the fact that something was bothering her. Obviously, she wasn’t in the mood for advice coming from the team though, as she had broken the contact to them before she had run, and so he took the earbud out as well.

“May I come in?” he wanted to know as he slowly made his way further into the room.

“You are in already,” she stated quietly. If her body language hadn’t given her away, her voice would have. The sound of it made his heart ache for a second. Moments like this reminded him of the fact that Parker was more than a goofy, overly excited woman. She had to deal with her own kind of darkness, caused by a horrible childhood. She didn’t talk much about herself, and he could imagine why. If there was someone who understood that there were things that better stayed unspoken, it was him.

Quietly, Eliot made his way over to the bed. Slowly, allowing her every space she needed to back off, he knelt down in front of her, bringing himself on eye level with her. To his surprise, she didn’t back off, didn’t turn around, didn’t even look away. Instead, she stared back at him in silence. The expression in her eyes increased the aching, and he felt the strong urge to do, to say anything that could comfort her.

“What happened?” he asked quietly.

“Nothing,” she answered, almost whispering. Her eyes narrowed as she added, “Did Nate and Sophie tell you to go and look for me?”

“Well, they said you suddenly ran away,” Eliot admitted.

Parker glared at him. “Tell them it’s nothing.”

“I’m not wearing the earbud right now,” he assured her. “And I’m not just here because they told me to. I want to know what happened. And don’t say ‘nothing’ again. I know that look. It never means ‘nothing’.” He paused. “They said you wanted to go into that drawing room, but you just watched and suddenly left. Why?”

She stared back at him in silence for an endlessly long minute. “Do you know what it’s like if no one wants you and you don’t fit in anywhere?” she wanted to know then.

“Why?” he asked back.

Parker shrugged. “Those women said a woman like me doesn’t fit in, because I didn’t grow up with the money and am not coming from a rich and successful family. I just tricked the right man into marrying me. I won’t ever fit into their world and won’t ever be welcome.”

Eliot couldn’t prevent his eyes from widening at her words. “And that upset you?” he asked. “Parker, that’s just a role you’re playing. That’s not really you. You’re not Alice Cole. You’re just pretending to be her.”

She shrugged again. “That’s not what matters. It’s just that...even when I play a role, I don’t fit in.” He could see hints of tears rising in her eyes. It took him another second until realisation hit him.

“It’s not about the role, right?” he asked softly. “You’d like to tell me what the real problem is?”

This time, he didn’t need to push any further. Parker answered right away. “They just reminded me that I never fit in anywhere,” she said. “When I was a kid...I was never welcome. My parents...” Her voice trailed off and her eyes closed briefly. “I don’t think they ever liked me. Then I was sent to an orphanage and they never cared for me there either. I didn’t make real friends, and those I made left me behind sooner or later. The foster parents also didn’t want me. They either took care of me because of the money or because I was supposed to make them feel better. No one ever wanted me. I was never welcome. I never fitted in. I...”

Once again, her voice trailed off. Eliot knew very well what she had wanted to say. Even though Archie had cared for her, had taught her everything she knew, she hadn’t fitted into his family either.

“I’ve never been welcome anywhere,” she whispered. “Never. I’m used to being alone of course. I can take care of myself and I learnt to survive. That’s a good thing, right? But...it’s just...”

“It hurts to believe that you aren’t welcome anywhere and that you don’t fit in,” Eliot completed for her.

Parker nodded. “And that no one cares. You don’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you exist or not. And sometimes, people even want to get rid of you. I think those women want me to go away as well. That’s why they said that, right? Although they knew I could hear them. They wanted me to feel like I’m not welcome and make me go away.”

Eliot could only nod in agreement. Parker’s confession had come unexpected, but he could entirely understand her. Never, since she had been a little girl, anyone had ever shown something like love to her. She didn’t know what it was like to be loved, to know someone was there who cared for her, without having an advantage from doing so. She had been alone, pretty much since the day of her birth. She had learnt to depend on herself only: not because she had chosen though but because there had never been anyone else to depend on in the first place. It was a painful realisation, and he could understand why the words of those women had hurt her. They had reminded her of what she knew already, of what was part of her since her childhood.

“I can imagine that was pretty hard for you,” he finally managed to say. “No one should grow up that way. No one should believe that they aren’t welcome anywhere. But...Parker, it’s not that way anymore. You’re part of a team that loves you. We care for you, and not just because you’re useful for us. We really like you. You fit in perfectly. Yeah, you might be exhausting and crazy at times, but overall, you’re just like us. You’re not alone anymore.”

Reaching out, he brushed her hair out of her face, gently caressing her cheek as he did so. She didn’t stir, didn’t show any reaction at all at his gesture. Instead, she continued staring right into his eyes, in an intense way he had never experienced with her before.

“Forget what those women said,” he added then, trying to break the silence although he doubted it would get uncomfortable any time soon. “They’re just jealous, Parker. Their husbands married them because they were either forced to or because of the women’s money. Those aren’t honest, happy marriages. Unlike what they believe it’s with us. They see a woman who’s married to a rich man simply because he fell in love with her. Not with her money or with anything else she has to offer, but simply with who she is. They hate that. They hate the idea of a woman catching a rich man’s attention just because of being herself.”

“But that’s mean,” Parker said, frowning slightly. “They don’t even know me.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Eliot answered. “They don’t care if you’re nice or not. They just want to make you feel bad so they can feel better themselves. Those women define themselves over their money and their husbands. There’s nothing else to them. They feel better if they hurt others and put them down.”

“That’s stupid,” she stated.

“Very stupid.” He nodded. “That’s why you should ignore them. Don’t listen to them. You don’t fit in? Fine, who cares? You don’t have to. You’re a beautiful, smart woman who married a handsome, rich guy. Should they be jealous!”

Much to Eliot’s relief, Parker chuckled at his words. There were still hints of tears, but the pain in her eyes was slowly starting to fade away.

“You got what I said, right?” he wanted to know. “That you’re not alone anymore. That you have us, and that we really care for you. We’re friends. We’re like a family. And I’m not just here because I was told to. I do care for you. Very much. Trust me.”

Once again, she stared back at him in silence. “I do trust in you,” she admitted then. “More than I trust in anyone else.”

As much as her earlier words had made his heart ache, this little confession warmed it. He knew she was honest, and he also knew how much it meant that she dared to be so honest to him.

“See?” he said softly. “Then there’s no need to be upset anymore. You fit in. You found a place where you belong to. Screw those women, or those people from the past who didn’t know what they were missing out on when they left you behind or used you.”

A tiny smile lit her face in response. “We have to get back in there, right?” she asked then. “To continue the job.”

“I think so, yeah.” Eliot nodded. “But you know what? That’s a good thing. We’ll go back in there and shove into their faces that they can say whatever they like: you couldn’t care less. ‘Cause you have me, and that’s all that matters.” With a wink, he added, “I guess it’s time to do what Sophie told us and really show to them what a great married couple we are.”

“Should they be jealous,” Parker said, giggling.

He smiled back at her. “Yeah, exactly.” Getting up, he offered his hand to her. “Let’s get this job done. And do me a favour, okay? Never forget that times have changed and that you’re not alone anymore.”

For a brief moment, she smirked. “Promise to do the same,” she said.

He couldn’t help but shake his head at her. Moments like this made him wonder how good she really was at understanding people around her.

Grabbing his hand then, she got up. Gazing back at him once again, she smiled. “Thank you,” she said.

“Anytime,” he answered. He led her out of their bedroom again. As they made their way back to the drawing room, she made a curious face.

“Do you really think I’m beautiful and smart?” she wanted to know.

“Just keep walking,” Eliot answered, without looking at her. “Don’t ask so many questions all the time.” He paused before he quickly added, “And yeah, I do.”

He couldn’t help but smile as Parker giggled in response.


	4. Chapter 4

When Parker had hurried to her bedroom, she had almost felt stupid because of the way those women had made her feel. They had hurt her feelings. Even people she knew, people close to her weren’t allowed to make that happen, and especially not strangers. But obviously she wasn’t in control over who was allowed to hurt her feelings, and who wasn’t.

It hadn’t been the fact that the women had tried to attack her that had bothered Parker, but what they had reminded her of. For all her life, she had never fitted in anywhere, had never been welcome. She had been alone. Plain and simple. And those women had reminded her of that fact.

Fortunately, she had been wrong when it came to the alone part. No, she wasn’t alone anymore. She had a team that cared for her, that didn’t just use her for their advantage, because they could benefit of her skills. They really seemed to like her.

At least Eliot had tried to make her believe that. For Parker, it was still difficult to trust in people, to let them anywhere close to her. After all, who told her that people were honest, that they weren’t just telling her lies to keep her around?

Parker was convinced that Eliot wouldn’t lie though. He never bothered to hide what he was thinking of her and her behaviour. He would tell her off if she was getting on his nerves or was doing something stupid or crazy again.

So why should he lie now, if he didn’t have a problem with being honest in other situations either? Why would he go and talk to her, make her feel better? Just because the team wanted him to? He could have just told her to stop being upset and take care of the job. He didn’t have to sit with her, listen to her and offer comfort. He didn’t have to remind her of the fact that she wasn’t alone, that she fitted in and was loved. All that was unnecessary if his goal had simply been to get her off the bed and back into the drawing room.

Only the fact that he cared for her was a reason why he would approach her like that. He wouldn’t tell her how much she meant to him and the others if he didn’t mean it. Parker didn’t believe the others would lie either. They certainly liked her. But she did know that they could go over the top maybe, to convince her easly. He wouldn’t do that, because he just wasn’t that way. He meant what he said. It was one of many reasons why she trusted in him the most.

And he thought that she was a beautiful and smart woman. This fact amused Parker. She was sure Eliot had been a little embarrassed when she had brought that bit up again. She liked the idea of him thinking about her like that though. Beautiful and smart. Both were definitely good words.

When Parker had put the earbud back in, she had immediately been greeted by three different voices, telling her to never do that again. She promised, not listening any further though. Yes, taking the earbud out had been wrong. She wasn’t supposed to do that. But in this moment, she had simply been incapable of listening to the team’s words of support or encouragement. In fact, she hadn’t even wanted to explain her problem to them in the first place. Because she hadn’t wanted to hear that Hardison was sorry for her. Because she hadn’t wanted Sophie to talk to her like a little child that needed a hug, telling her that everything would be fine, and she hadn’t wanted to listen to Nate either.

Eliot didn’t say anything to what their team mates had to say. Wordlessly, he led her back into the drawing room. One arm was wrapped around her waist, keeping her close to his side. It was a tiny gesture, but, much to Parker’s surprise, it already was enough to make her feel better. No, she wasn’t alone in this. Not anymore.

“When they see us together,” she whispered then, as they entered the room and she spotted the women in question not too far away, “they’ll surely know I told you what they said. Because they saw me running away. Doesn’t that make me look stupid? Like a baby?”

Eliot shook his head. “No, it makes them look stupid, because if they think we didn’t get what they were up to, they’re even more stupid than they look like.” He leant in further so he could whisper into her ear. “Listen, the best you can do is to ignore them. Don’t give them what they want. Don’t show them you’re uncomfortable. Just give them the feeling that you couldn’t care less whether or not they exist. It’ll bother them. It’ll anger them even more when you pretend like they’re not there.”

“Do you actually still need us?” Hardison’s voice asked. “How do you know that much about how to handle mean women, huh?”

Eliot smirked in response. “You’re not the only one who’s full of surprises.” His attention turned back to Parker. “Just relax and ignore them. Best thing you can do.”

And with those words, he leant in to kiss her. Onto the lips this time. Most of the time, she was receiving kisses onto her cheeks from him. Kisses onto the lips were rare, and quick. This one lasted a little longer, and Parker couldn’t prevent herself from shuddering slightly. She also couldn’t deny a strange hint of disappointment as he pulled back again.

“Newman and Heather just sat down near the fireplace,” Nate’s voice said then. “That’s a good chance for you to join them.”

Nodding silently, Eliot guided Parker over to the near group of couches, located in front of the fireplace.

“Mr. Cole,” Newman greeted him, offering his all too familiar smile. “I see you found your wife.”

“Yeah.” Eliot nodded as they sat down across of the couple. “Excuse me for leaving earlier, but...when you’re newly married, you don’t like to spend time apart from each other. You certainly know what I’m talking about.”

Newman laughed at his words. “That was good,” Sophie said impressed. “Did you see the face Heather made? Just for a brief moment.”

Instinctively, Parker looked at the woman in front of her. Heather was staring ahead, a smile plastered across her face like usually. Being so close now, Parker couldn’t help the feeling that this smile didn’t look honest at all. Obviously, Heather really was just pretending to be happy in this particular moment. Was she jealous as well? That was their goal after all.

“How long have you been married already?” Newman wanted to know.

“It’s half a year next month,” Eliot answered, liked he had been told by Sophie when she had explained the background story of their relationship to them.

Newman nodded. “How did the two of you meet? I doubt in your case, there were any rich families involved that arranged the wedding.” He laughed at his own joke. This time, Parker noticed what Sophie had mentioned earlier. Something in Heather’s face changed, indeed making her look upset for a moment.

“Oh, that’s quite a nice story,” Eliot said. 

Parker could feel how his arm tightened around her waist. She willingly let him pull her closer. It still fascinated her how much she actually enjoyed this kind of closeness. There had been a time when being touched had freaked her out. She had hated it, because she had never been sure of what would happen next. Did the person mean any harm for her? And would she be able to get enough distance between herself and said person if she needed to? Sophie had explained to her that every human being had a personal space which they didn’t like others to enter. Parker’s personal space was bigger than the one of others, Sophie’s for example. She would feel uncomfortable whenever anyone would cross this invisible line.

Unless she wanted the person to, and obviously, so Parker assumed, she wanted to be that close to Eliot. Why else would she allow him to touch her, to hold her close? Of course it was part of the job, but she didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, she was enjoying what he was doing. And even before, she hadn’t minded him entering her personal space. In fact, she had gotten into his over and over again herself.

“One day, I was at the library where she’s been working,” Eliot continued then. “Don’t ask me what I was doing there. I don’t remember, and I doubt it’s the most important part of the day.” He winked at Newman, impressing Parker with how convincing he was with that. “I ran into her and made her drop a few books. I helped her with them, apologized of course, and...well, I guess that was the moment when I wasn’t really in control anymore.”

This time, he turned to Parker. Just for a moment, their eyes met, before he looked back at Newman. Parker didn’t know why this single, little exchanged glance had made her shudder again, but she was curious what he’d say next.

“I was bold enough to ask her out for a coffee,” he told their mark then. “Fortunately, she agreed. Turned out I couldn’t stop thinking about her anymore. I fell in love with her before I even knew what was happening. But how could you not? She’s different to every woman I’ve met before. I’m pretty sure she thinks that being different makes her weird, or crazy. But in fact, it simply makes her unique. She’s not just beautiful, she’s incredibly smart, too. And, what’s most important to me is the fact that I can absolutely trust in her. I know she’s always there when I need her, and I hope she knows she can completely count on me, too. That’s what you do if you love each other after all.”

Once again, Eliot’s attention turned to Parker briefly. Once again, their eyes met. And she hoped that she was good enough at smiling the smile Sophie had taught to her that no one, him included, would see how surprised she was. Parker clearly remembered the background story Sophie had explained to them, so it would be easier to play a married couple. They had to be aware of the important details. What he had said about her though hadn’t been on the grifter’s list, and their friend hadn’t told him what to say via the earbud either. He had come up with all those nice words by himself, and for a moment, she couldn’t help but wonder if that was still part of his role or not.

“Sounds like true love to me,” Newman said, sounding amused. Heather, sitting next to him, looked even more stone-faced than she had earlier. To Parker, she looked like someone whose personal space was invaded, and who was ready to either run or attack.

“Absolutely,” Eliot answered.

Newman chuckled. “Fine then. Why don’t we get us another drink?”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Parker could feel how Eliot leant in again. “You’d like something as well?”

“Sure,” was all she managed to say, still a little confused by the situation, still a little overwhelmed. The kiss he gave her then only increased those feelings. Feeling like she had gotten herself into some surreal world, she watched as the two men got up and left. In silence, she stared ahead, not exactly understanding what Sophie was saying through the earbud, believing her words weren’t directed at her anyway.

“It seems like you’ve been lucky with your husband. He seems to really love you.”

Heather’s voice startled Parker. She had almost forgotten the other woman was still around. “That’s fantastic, Parker!” Sophie’s voice told her. “Don’t back off now, I’ll help you with the conversation. This is your chance to get a little closer to her.”

Parker hoped her face didn’t reveal her discomfort, which increased even more as Sophie told Eliot to keep Newman busy for a few moments so the conversation between the women could continue.

“Um...yes, I think he does. And...I love him as well,” she answered then. Following Sophie’s instructions, she continued, “What about you? You seem to be a lucky woman yourself. I’m sure a lot of women would love to be in your place.”

“Oh, but of course.” This time, Heather failed even more at pretending. “He’s a famous, rich man after all, coming from a mighty family. I live in a big, beautiful house, with housemates who do all my work for me, and I can go shopping all day long if I want to. It’s great, isn’t it? A girl’s dream coming true. After all, who needs anything else?”

“But he loves you, doesn’t he?” Parker asked. “And you love him as well?”

“Oh, yes, of course we love each other,” Heather stated coldly. “We’re a happy couple.” She threw a quick glance at something behind Parker before she added, “You left earlier because of what Sally and her friends said about you, didn’t you? Don’t worry about them. Don’t even bother to care. They’re like that to everyone.”

Parker raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t expected the topic to be changed that suddenly. “Really?” she asked, this time not needing Sophie’s help.

Heather nodded. “Don’t ask me how many times they’ve badmouthed me.”

“But they look like they’re your friends.”

This time, Heather chuckled, and for a moment, she almost looked amused. “That’s adorable. It’s obvious you haven’t been part of this world for long yet. If you’re like us...you don’t have any friends...may I say Alice? Mrs. Cole just sounds so formal.” As Parker nodded, she added, “I’m Heather. Well, Alice, if you’re like us, you don’t have friends. Not real ones at least. It’s a constant game. Everyone tries to be the richest and mightiest on the market. You pretend that you like each other when you’re face to face, but as soon as you leave the room, they start to badmouth you. Don’t ask me how often I caught these women doing exactly that. They’d do that even to their ‘best friends’. And a woman like you, who’s lucky enough to find a rich man who loves her for just being herself? They had to make you feel bad, to feel better than you. It’s a very fake and cold world, believe me.”

Parker just nodded slowly. Watching the woman in front of her, she felt sorry. Heather really wasn’t happy: even she could see that. She didn’t seem to like her husband, or to think that he cared for her. She also didn’t like those other women, who pretended to be her friends just to badmouth her behind her back. Heather was lonely, and loneliness was something Parker understood.

“So don’t take it personal when they say such mean stuff in front of you,” Heather added. “It’s just them being jealous. You seem to be a nice woman and you’re loved by your husband. That’s more than most of us can say about themselves.”

And with those words, Heather got up. Sophie almost shouted in Parker’s ear as she said, “That was brilliant! One big step into the right direction. Well done! Really well done.”

Parker just smiled in response. She listened to Sophie as she told Eliot to go back to her and make sure she wouldn’t be bothered by any of those rude women. They had done a good job, that was for sure. But she didn’t feel excited, or even relieved. Instead, she felt sorry for Heather, but even more, she was overwhelmed by the fact that she was still confused.

\----------------

The day had been a full success, despite the little problems that had occurred somewhere along the line. Still, Eliot was glad as he and Parker could return to their bedroom for the night. They might have made big steps into the right direction already, but playing a role for so many hours was definitely exhausting.

Neither he nor Parker said much while they got changed and headed to bed. Not talking wasn’t so much of a problem as both of them weren’t really talkers and did just fine with being quiet at times. What caught his attention though was the serious expression in Parker’s eyes. He knew this expression by now: it usually appeared when she was busy with thinking about something.

“Are you okay?” he eventually decided to ask her as she had joined him in bed, still without saying anything, or doing anything she usually would have done. She looked up at him with huge eyes.

“Why?”

“Because...” Eliot sighed, grateful that the earbud was safely hidden in the drawer of his bedside table. He was capable of having deeper conversations, of offering advice and support, but that didn’t mean such conversations were easy for him either. “Well, you look like something’s bothering you. Is it still because of what those women said?”

Parker stared back at him in silence for several long minutes. Then she shook her head. “No,” she answered. “I was just...thinking.”

“Yeah, I got that. About what though?”

“Heather,” she replied. “I think I understand why Cathy wants to help her. She’s lonely. Although there’re so many people around her, she’s still lonely. Because her husband isn’t nice to her like he should be and because her friends don’t really like her either.”

“You feel sorry for her?” Eliot wanted to know.

Parker shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe.” She was quiet for another moment before she added, “What you said was nice.”

“What?” He looked back at her in surprise. She was good at hopping from one topic to the other, and at confusing him with that. “What did I say?”

“You said nice things about me. To Newman.” She was staring at her own hands now, placed in her lap. To his increasing surprise, he realised that her cheeks were reddening softly. “Even if it wasn’t real.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Eliot nodded. He clearly remembered what he had said to Newman while explaining how they had met. He had improvised. Instinctively. Obviously, his words had impressed her in some way, and he wondered how she would feel about them if she knew that most of what he had said hadn’t been made up. Although he was still surprised by himself and wondering where those words had suddenly come from.

“Don’t think so much,” he decided to say then. “You look tired. It was a very long day. Try to catch some sleep.”

Parker just nodded in response. She offered a brief smile before she snuggled into their blanket. He switched the lamb on the bedside table off. But even though he was tired himself, Eliot couldn’t fall asleep right away. He had his own thoughts that were keeping his mind busy, and he was wondering how the following day would turn out.


	5. Chapter 5

Had Eliot expected that maybe there was a chance that Parker liked to sleep in, he had been wrong. It might have been difficult to make her get up the previous day. As he woke up the next morning though, it didn't take him longer than a matter of seconds to realise she was back to her old self.

Not that he'd mind, although he'd never admit that. Seeing Parker upset like she had been the previous day definitely wasn't a joy. At all. Her behaviour had seriously worried him, even after he had talked her into believing him that she wasn't alone anymore.

She really wasn't. He fairly doubted he was the only member of their team who didn't just like to have her around because she was good at what she was doing. She was exhausting, sometimes unbearable, that was for sure.

But there was more to her than this crazy side. She was indeed smart. And beautiful. And one could count on her, because if one had earned her trust, she wouldn't turn her back on said person.

No, she wasn't alone anymore. She was an important part of their team, and sometimes it scared him how important she really was to him by now.

That didn't change his dislike for being woken up by her poking him though. Eliot knew very well that pretending to be still asleep wouldn't get him anywhere. Parker was stubborn, and when she had a goal, she would do everything she could to reach it. Right now, that was obviously waking him up and getting whatever reaction from him. She would simply continue, until he wouldn't be able to stay still any longer.

“Oh dammit, Parker!” he groaned eventually. “Are you for real? Stop that already!” He opened his eyes, just to find her smiling down at him, with a smile that was a serious threat to the brightness of the sun.

Eliot shook his head at her in disbelief. “Can you maybe decide on one mood?” he wanted to know, fighting hard against the urge to smile. She looked adorable when happy like that, and he was glad to see her smile again. She wasn't supposed to know that though. The poking was annoying, and he wanted her to understand that finally. Which was hopeless of course, but he could still try.

“It's sunny outside,” she announced, ignoring everything else he'd said. Like usually. “You can't just sleep then.”

“Oh no?” he asked back. “Yesterday, you could.”

“That was because I was tired.”

“And who says I'm not tired as well right now?”

Parker shrugged. “You're awake.”

“Because you woke me up!” Eliot replied firmly.

She just shrugged again. Not caring for his formerly announced rule of staying on her half of the bed, she moved as close as she could, staring him straight into the eyes. She had this thoughtful expression in her eyes again, but this time, she didn't look like she was bothered by her thoughts.

“What are you thinking about?” he couldn't help but ask as she wouldn't stop staring after endlessly long minutes.

“Nothing,” she stated.

“Yeah, that looks like nothing.” Eliot rolled his eyes at her.

Parker stared for another moment. “Am I annoying you?” she suddenly asked.

“Right now?” he asked back, like so many times unprepared for such a question.

“In general.”

He sighed, feeling the urge to ask her why she always had to come up with such complicated questions. He also wanted to know why she was asking this one in the first place. Was she worried she was getting on his nerves? Or was she just curious?

“Sometimes you are, yes,” Eliot eventually decided to say. “But not in general, no. Only when you're doing it on purpose.” He paused as another question came to his mind. “Why me though?”

“Huh?” It was her turn to look at him in confusion.

“Why do you always do all that stuff to me?” he wanted to know. “Like the poking. Or the sitting as close as you can? You do have your crazy moments in front of the others as well, but you never really...well, target them. Why me?”

Parker's eyes widened even more and to his surprise, she started to blush. Looking away, she started to toy with a loose curl of her hair. “Well, first of all,” she finally started, “I like to see how you'll react. You're funny when you get mad at me. It's sweet.” She chuckled. Once again, he shook his head at her. Sweet? Not exactly what he had wanted to hear.

“But it's not just that,” she continued then. “I also...you're different. I understand you better. I know where I'm at with you.”

“And that doesn't count for the others?” Eliot asked surprised. He would've been satisfied with the first part of her answer, because that had been pretty much what he had expected: her joy of testing his nerves. That there was more behind her behaviour hadn't even occurred to him.

“Well, it's different with them,” Parker said. “I don't know how to explain.”

“Try.”

She sighed. “See...Hardison for example. He's sweet to me all the time. I could poke him for hours and he wouldn't tell me off, even if I was getting on his nerves.”

“Because he doesn't want to hurt your feelings,” Eliot pointed out.

“Yeah, but...” She groaned. “Damn, I said I don't know how to explain it! It's just that I don't know what he's really thinking. Like, is he annoyed or not? He doesn't want to hurt my feelings, and so he's hiding some stuff from me. But that makes me unsure, because I don't know what he's really thinking of me. And Nate and Sophie...I think they believe I'm a little girl sometimes. I mean, they go all 'Parker, that's not what you do or say', in that weird voice. It's like...as if they want to teach me something, you know? I don't know what they're thinking of me either.”

Her voice trailed off and she stared back at him almost desperately. Eliot couldn't deny that her little speech had confused him even more. Whatever she was thinking had to be rather complex, and he couldn't blame her for being incapable of explaining it to him properly.

“Then what's different about me?” he asked eventually, hoping that maybe this explanation would make more sense to him.

“I trust in you,” she simply stated.

“But you trust in them as well,” he answered.

Parker sighed. “I do! But didn't I tell you yesterday I trust in you the most? I wasn't lying!”

“And why?”

“Because you're the most predictable one of them all,” she said.

“What?” Eliot's eyes widened in disbelief. “Me of all people? I'm the most predictable?”

“Yes!” Parker answered firmly. “Even though I can't read your mind at all. But you're always treating me the same way! Like, you get mad at me when I'm annoying you too much, you tell me, and when I stop, we're good again. You aren't trying to change me, even though you think I'm crazy sometimes. I know when I do this, you do that. When I behave this way, you react that way. I know when you're not talking to anyone of us, you're upset because of something, but that you'll eventually return to being the way you always are. I know when one of us gets upset, you'll come and offer some support. But you won't say silly stuff. You don't say much, but you say the right things, and they make sense to me. And I know if I get into trouble, you'll be there for me.” She groaned again. “I like you the most, and that's why it's always you, okay?”

Once again, Eliot felt the urge to shake his head at her. Leave it to Parker to talk herself dizzy, just because she wanted to explain to him in weird details that she liked him the most. Her last sentence would have answered his question perfectly fine. Then again, he had to admit that even though she had partly confused him, he was grateful for the details he had gotten from her as well. Because it was good for him to know that his way of treating her was what she needed the most. He had earned her trust. Hers of all people. Because he wasn't trying to change, wasn't trying to fix her. Because he was honest to her. And because he had managed to convince her that she could always count on him.

He watched her closely as she continued to play with her hair. Her body language once again said more than words.

“Listen, I got you, okay?” he said. “And you didn't say anything wrong or stupid. It's all good.” Placing a hand over hers, he made her stop playing with her curl. She looked up, her eyes meeting his again. He could see the relief in them: because she hadn't messed up, and because she hadn't revealed anything that could now backfire at her.

“Where's the breakfast?” she asked then.

“The...” Eliot sighed. From complicated conversations about trust to breakfast within a matter of a second. Before he got a chance to answer though, a knocking at their door did the work for him.

“Oh, there it is!” Smiling all over her face again, Parker jumped up. “I'll get it this time!”

Like so many times before shaking his head at her, Eliot watched as Parker took over the trolley, her eyes sparkling at the sight of the delicious food. She was complicated, yes. But maybe he was getting there. Maybe he was slowly starting to understand the complicated way her mind was working. One day, she would make sense to him, as much as he was obviously making sense to her.

\--------------------

The previous day had been exhausting for Parker, but she couldn't deny she had also learnt a lot from it. During her second full day at the manor, she was less nervous, less scared of making eye contact with people. Heather had been surprisingly nice to her, and talking to her hadn't been so hard either.

What really confused her though was her current situation with Eliot. Not because he didn't make any sense to her: that was never a problem for her. But she didn't make sense to herself anymore. The way he had been talking about her the previous day had affected her more than she understood. Why did she care so much? Why had she liked the idea of him possibly thinking that way about her so much?

And why had she said all the things she had this morning? Parker could only shake her head at herself. Was it possible he had really understood her, although she didn't entirely understand herself at times?

The truth was that she liked him the most, because she trusted in him the most. She liked to be around him, liked to get in contact with him, no matter if that meant actually talking or just trying to annoy him in some way, which would eventually result in a reaction from his side. She felt comfortable around him. He didn't even have to do anything. It was just a feeling his presence caused, and she liked it. Always had.

But why did she like it so much by now? What had happened, and when? And what would happen next?

Those thoughts kept on pushing their way back into her mind during the day, sometimes distracting her so much that Sophie had to step in and remind her to stay focused on the job. During lunch, she got the chance to talk to Heather again, while Eliot took care of Newman. Sophie helped her with little details for the answers she had to give, happily pointing out that she was earning Heather's trust more and more.

At least this part of the job was working perfectly, although Parker had doubted it the most when she had learnt that she was supposed to be the grifter this time. Sophie's theory was proven right as Heather approached Parker in the afternoon, offering to have a cup of tea with her as she wasn't in the mood to be around those other women that pretended to be her friends. The idea of spending so much time alone with their mark's wife had scared Parker at first, but eventually, she had handled herself in the situation in question better than expected.

Still, she was relieved as Eliot appeared to pick her up, asking her to go for a walk as Nate believed they shouldn't push her too much and allow her a few hours to let go of the role she was playing all day long already. The fresh air that greeted her in the backyard was more than welcome. So was the presence of the only person in this house around whom she could be herself.

“This is getting so exhausting,” Parker sighed as they made their way along the path that led through the backyard, leaning into his side for support. “I think I'm going to bed early tonight. Could say I got a headache or something. I don't feel like chatting away all evening long again.”

“Well, I doubt that's possible,” Eliot answered. As she gave him a questioning look, he explained, “Newman said he invited a pianist for tonight. Famous guy, according to him. Shouldn't look good to them if we decide not to appear as well.”

“Ugh, no!” Parker groaned. “We have to listen to music all evening long?”

“Yes, and dance,” Sophie's voice said.

“What?!” Parker's eyes widened in shock. “I'm not going to dance! I...can't even do that!”

“Calm down,” Eliot hissed into her ear. “Stop yelling! I can't either, but it's part of the job. It could be worse.”

“Like what?” She shook her head. “I swear, when this job is over, you're all going to steal something really shiny with me!”

Dancing. The idea of that was enough to make her shudder. Dancing for fun was okay. Dancing in front of people and having to do it right was a different story though. She barely listened as first Sophie, then Nate and eventually even Hardison talked to her, or both of them. The good old times when she just had to break into a safe or steal someone's wallet.

Parker's mood didn't change for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Eliot didn't try to convince her any further that this was yet another part of their job. It had to be done. Period. No need for discussions.

And so, she had no other choice put follow him to the giant room with the piano that would be used for this event. The other guests had arrived already, but she couldn't tell whether or not they were looking forward to what was ahead for them. After spending so much time with talking to Heather, Parker had come to a point where she didn't believe anything she was seeing on the faces of those people anymore. Were they ever really honest? Or was every single smile faked, every single word a lie? In her eyes, they were all grifters, in their very own ways.

“It's okay, you know,” Eliot said as he led her further into the room. “See, I get why talking to people makes you nervous. But this? It's not that bad.”

“But everyone's going to watch us!” Parker hissed back. “What if I mess up? I mean, I didn't yet after all!”

“Just because you did a good job so far doesn't mean you have to mess up sooner or later,” he answered. His arm tightened around her waist as he held her a little closer. “You're thinking too much. I know this isn't a familiar field for you: being in the role of the grifter and all. But you're doing fine, so stop waiting for a moment when you'll mess up.” He nodded towards a near couch. “See? Not everyone's going to dance all the time. We'll just sit over there, join in sometimes and then go back to watching. Nothing too hard I'd say.”

“I don't get why you don't mind this job,” Parker stated firmly. “Wouldn't you rather beat someone up?”

Eliot sighed. “Of course there are things I'd rather like to do, but do you think complaining will change anything? We're in, we have to get it done. The sooner the better. Now come on.”

Sighing herself, Parker followed Eliot to the couch in question, glad as she could sit down. She knew: even if they would join in for maybe one or two dances, that would still turn attention to them again. Especially of those women, who still watched every step of her. Parker still didn't care for their opinion, even less since she had gotten over their hateful words. But she hated to be watched. Eliot was right though: complaining didn't work either, and so, she leant into him, watching Newman as he introduced the pianist, hoping that they could return to their bedroom as quickly as possible.

\--------------------

Eliot couldn't really blame Parker for her dislike of the situation they had gotten themselves into. After all, they really weren't grifters like Sophie, and he doubted any of the other team members were interested in doing his job either. There was no way back though. Complaining wouldn't work. It only made things more complicated, and there were worse things they had to do.

“It's time for you to participate a little more,” Nate's voice said. In fact, Eliot was surprised the mastermind hadn't stepped in earlier. For almost an hour now, he and Parker were watching the guests from their location on the couch, occasionally joined by others. The pianist was good, at least Eliot believed so. This kind of music wasn't exactly his taste. He couldn't deny it created a nice atmosphere though.

“Come on,” Nate added.

Eliot didn't have to look at Parker to know she was glaring in response. “Listen,” he said quietly. “One more day and we're hopefully done with this job. Then we can go back home and be ourselves again. Let's get this done already.”

Parker just nodded in response. Yes, only a few more days, and they would be themselves again. Back in their old familiar roles. As they got up though to enter the dance floor as well, he couldn't help but wonder if things would really be the same again. Could be the same again. Because he was convinced something had changed, even though he couldn't exactly define what. It also wasn't anything he wanted to pay too much attention to right now. He was confused: a feeling he didn't enjoy at all.

“Just do what the others are doing,” Sophie said then.

“Funny,” Parker whispered firmly. She was nervous: there was no way to deny that. Much more nervous than him, by far.

“Hey, it's going to be okay,” he told her. “I know you hate being watched, and so do I. Just try to not concentrate on that. Concentrate on me. Remember, you're not alone.”

With those words, he gently pulled her closer. Much to his relief, Parker relaxed a little as he wrapped one arm around her waist while taking her other hand into his. Her free hand came to rest on his shoulder, firmly grasping a handful of his shirt as she did so. By the time the pianist started a new song, he began to move her across the dance floor.

“See, you're doing good,” he told her quietly, feeling how her grip on his shirt loosened a bit. “Just relax. Keep in mind I'm here. I'm taking care of you.”

There was more Eliot wanted to say, but words failed him as Parker leant in further. Her head came to rest on his shoulder and as he glanced down at her, he realised she had closed her eyes. Her entire body suddenly started to relax in his arms. Her face looked absolutely calm.

It was a sight that made him forget the other guests, Newman and Heather within an instant. Instead, Eliot's entire attention focused on the woman he was holding. During the last couple of years, he had come to the point where he cared deeply for every single member of their team. There were two team mates he had always watched out for the most though. One was Nate. Eliot kept a close eye on their mastermind, fearing that somewhere along the line, Nate could lose control over himself completely and do something he would react. The other one was Parker. When it came to her, he wasn't worried. Parker had learnt to survive; she hadn't had another choice. She knew how to take care of herself. And he also knew she wouldn't run away. She had had her chances after all, and hadn't used them.

Still, he felt the urge to protect her, to keep her safe, for different reasons though. Parker didn't need protection. But she deserved it. Since her early childhood, she had never had anyone in her life who had taken care of her, who had made her feel safe and protected. There was a reason why she had believed she didn't belong anywhere, didn't fit in at all. Because for all her life, she had only had herself.

Until she had met them. Until she had met him. Somehow, Eliot had managed to earn Parker's trust, and the urge to give her what she didn't need but secretly wanted and deserved more than anyone else he knew was stronger than ever. He wanted her to feel protected, safe. He wanted her to know that she wasn't alone, that there was someone by her side who cared, who wouldn't hurt her, wouldn't use her. Someone she could depend on.

And she had understood. The way she was relaxing now, although she had been so nervous, almost scared, just a minute ago was the best proof he could get. She trusted in him, more than she had probably ever trusted in anyone. More than anyone had ever trusted in him. And as this realisation hit him, he finally understood what had been confusing him not only during this weekend, but for a much longer time already.

Bringing his face closer to hers, Eliot gently brushed his lips over her cheek. “Are you alright?” he whispered into her ear. Parker just nodded in response, keeping her eyes closed, and eventually releasing his shirt from her tight grip. He resisted the urge to embrace her, or to bend down and kiss her, which was getting almost unbearable by now.

“Heather is watching you again,” Sophie said then, sounding excited. “You're doing a fantastic job. She's getting jealous. That's exactly what we need!”

Parker frowned at her friend's words. Her hand let go of his shoulder as she reached for her ear.

“What the hell...Parker!” Hardison exclaimed. “Eliot, tell her to put that earbud back in!”

“Will you guys just shut up for once,” he hissed back. 

He couldn't help but shudder as she snuggled more firmly into him, burying her face in his hair. Holding her like that, feeling her like that made the world out there seem to be miles away. She caused a warmth deep within him that had come entirely unexpected, yet didn't surprise him at all. Gently running his hand up and down her back, he bent further down to her, instinctively closing his eyes as well. So much, he wanted to know what she was thinking right now, what she was feeling, and if those feelings got anywhere close to those he was experiencing for her.

“She's still watching you,” Sophie said, calmer this time. She paused for a moment before she added, “Say that you love her.”

“I love you, Parker,” Eliot said quietly.

“I love you, too,” she whispered back.

“You do know that was the wrong name, man?” Hardison's voice asked. 

Before Eliot got a chance to reply though, or to reach for his own earbud, the music stopped. As if waking up from a dream, he looked up, needing a moment to remember where they were. Parker needed longer than him. He held her close until he was sure she could actually stand on her own. He watched her frown for a moment before she looked up at him. Once again, she blushed, but this time, she didn't look away. And, once again, it was the team that had to remind them of where they were, because the surrounding world was still miles away as they simply gazed at each other.


	6. Chapter 6

“Well done, guys,” Nate said satisfied, leaning back in his chair. Holding back a yawn, he added, “We've made another big step into the right direction. We're slowly getting there. If everything goes like we planned it, we should be able to get this job done tomorrow. Have a good night, you two.”

At the mastermind's words, Hardison took his earbud out, sighing deeply. “I see why they think it's an exhausting job, man,” he said. “Being on the job all day long...not that easy.” He stretched himself before he got up from his location on Nate's living room couch. “Guess I'm in need of a soda and my bed now.”

Nate only nodded in response. His attention had already turned to Sophie, sitting next to him, just about to take her earbud out as well. He knew her for such a long time already. Although she was a grifter, and incredibly good at what she was doing, he believed he had learnt to understand her, to look behind the mask she used to put on.

Why she was so passionate about this job made perfect sense to him. Sophie believed in relationships, even though it had taken them a while to get together themselves. She understood the trouble Heather was in: being stuck in a cold, emotionless marriage was nothing she wanted anyone to go through.

But there was also something else. In the beginning, he had blamed it on her love for arranging stories. She had written scripts for Eliot and Parker, had planned out their background story in great details. Sophie was passionate about roles being set up and played. There was nothing new about that.

So he had believed. Until Nate had realised that unlike usually, Sophie wasn't part of the story she had come up with. There was no role prepared for her. She couldn't step in, except via the earbud, when she would occasionally tell their team mates what to say or to do next. She was watching from the outside, and still, she was getting so much joy out of it. Nate had watched her closely during the last few days, and he had realised that there had been moments that had excited Sophie the most. Not all of those moments really had to do with the job though, not all of them made sense, if it was really just the plan that got her so excited.

“We're slowly getting there,” he repeated his earlier words, studying his girlfriend closely.

Sophie nodded. “Yes. The plan's working perfectly.”

“And this is the reason that makes you smile like that?” Nate wanted to know.

“Of course,” she said. “We've made huge progresses tonight.”

Nate nodded slowly. “We're not talking about Newman and Heather anymore though, right?”

Sophie glanced back at him, raising her eyebrows lightly. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Oh, you do know what I'm talking about.” Nate shook his head at her. “Sophie, this is a job. Just a job. Like many others we've done before.”

“Of course it is.” Her smile widened. “I never said anything else.”

He sighed. “Sophie, please...don't mess around with the plan.”

“I'm not messing around with my plan,” she stated.

Her words made him raise his eyebrows in return. “Sophie, we don't con our team mates.”

All he got in response was a chuckle. She wouldn't say anything: he knew her well enough to be aware of this fact. She was stubborn, and he couldn't blame her for that either. After all, he was good at keeping stuff to himself as well, even when it came to jobs. He couldn't expect her to behave differently. But what she couldn't hide was the expression in her eyes. It said more than a million words could.

“So I'm right, yes?” Nate asked back. “This is more than just a job.”

Sophie shrugged. “I'm just saying that not everything in this manor is fake.”

“Don't you think you're reading too much into this?” Nate wanted to know.

All he got in response was another knowing smile from Sophie.

\------------------

For once, Eliot had been glad to have the voices of his team mates in his ear. If Nate, Sophie and Hardison hadn't reminded him of why he was at this manor in the first place, he would have had a hard time with getting back into his role. Same counted for Parker, who hadn't spoken a single word for the rest of the night.

Never before, he had been more grateful as they had managed to excuse themselves and return to their bedroom. His mind was spinning, it was difficult for him to stay focused: something that rarely to never happened.

It was yet another proof for what he had finally started to understand. Everything made sense now, but just because he wasn't confused any longer didn't mean the situation was getting any easier. Instead, chances were high that everything would get even more complicated.

The advantages of being in their bedroom were the facts that the team couldn't follow every of their moves via the hidden cameras any longer, and that they could get rid of their earbuds. The disadvantage though was the fact that they were alone now. Only the two of them.

Since they had entered the bedroom, Eliot hadn't looked at Parker. He knew she was standing somewhere behind him, and he could feel she was also watching him right now. What he was even more certain about though was the fact that she was nervous.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breathe. One of them had to make the first step. Since their arrival at the manor, a lot had changed between them. Or maybe it hadn't changed: they had just started to be aware of what had been hidden beneath the surface for a while already. Those things had confused him, and most likely her as well.

Until they had shared this one dance a few hours ago. He didn't know what had been going on inside her mind at this particular moment, but he was still very aware of his own thoughts and feelings. Holding her like that, feeling her like that had been one of the most intimate experiences he had ever had. Eliot didn't know how they had gotten to this point, how one single dance and tiny gestures like that could cause such powerful feelings. But they were still there and wouldn't just disappear.

“Are we still good?”

Parker's question came so unexpected that it physically startled him. Spinning around, Eliot stared at her in surprise. Never, he would have expected her to break the silence. The sight in front of him answered his question of why she had done it though. He had learnt to read people's body language, and hers revealed more than words could say. 

She was indeed nervous, to the point of almost being scared. One look at her was enough for him to be aware of how vulnerable she was feeling right now. She had given in to feelings that probably confused her more than anything, had let him in further than anyone else before. He could still remember how he had told her he loved her, and how he had said the wrong name. Even without Hardison pointing it out, he had been completely aware of his mistake, the second he had made it. He wasn't sure what had shocked him more though: the fact that it had been so easy to say it, or how right it had felt to him?

But he also hadn't forgotten her answer. No one had told her to respond, because she hadn't even been wearing the earbud at this moment. Why had she responded without a second of hesitation? He was convinced that she was asking herself the same question, which probably frightened her even more. Right now, she looked like her entire body was prepared to flee, and in fact, he was surprised she hadn't jumped out of their bedroom window yet to run and get as far away from him as possible.

Instead, she was forcing herself to stay where she was, despite feeling so exposed, so vulnerable, asking him if they were still okay.

“Why wouldn't we be?” Eliot managed to ask back.

“Because you're not looking at me anymore.”

He could see how much it cost her to keep on talking. She was fighting against instincts that were so much part of her, because she wanted answers. Because she was no longer just run by her instincts but something else. Something that had made her forget about the walls she used to put up and instead give in to something so new, and so frightening.

“I'm sorry,” he forced himself to say. She needed him to respond, even if he didn't know what to say. Because every second he would wait too long would convince her even more that she had made a mistake. It was a complicated situation. He knew what to say if someone needed comfort, no matter if it came to her or Nate. But even though he couldn't help the thought that he was the most normal of them all, despite his background, he was just as complicated as them. He wasn't a talker either, and dealing with feelings, especially feelings like that, which he hadn't planned on experiencing ever again, was a challenge for him, too.

“It's just that I'm...” he added.

“Confused.” Parker didn't ask. She stated it.

“Yeah.” Eliot nodded. “Just like you I guess.”

Parker didn't nod, or respond in any other way. Instead, she continued staring at him for another endlessly long minute. “Nate said we did a good job,” she said eventually.

“Yeah, obviously,” he agreed. “Seems like we're slowly getting there.”

She was quiet again. “It felt good,” Parker stated then. She wrapped her arms around herself as she added, “Even though it was fake. Right? Everything's just fake. Not real.”

And once again, she took him by surprise. Slowly, ever so slowly, her behaviour started to make sense to Eliot. Parker didn't run because she couldn't. She wanted to say something instead, but even though she usually was straight forward with what she had to say, she was struggling now. Because feelings were involved. And because she believed that only she was having real ones. It was a constant back and forth. Her instinct told her to go, because those feelings were weird and probably even wrong, especially as they were one-sided in her eyes, as he was only faking his. Her heart was telling her to stay though, to wait and see and get the answers for all the questions she had. Right now, instinct and heart were equally strong. He was convinced that this was the explanation for her behaviour: it would fit to her.

Slowly, he made his way over to her, giving her all the time she needed for the case she eventually decided to flee. Parker stayed where she was though, watching him closely until Eliot stood right in front of her.

“Not everything's fake,” he said quietly. And, deciding that words wouldn't be able to convince her anyway, he bent down to kiss her. He could feel how she tensed for a second, but neither he nor she pulled back. Sure that she wouldn't back off, he took her face into his palms and deepened the kiss, just a little bit. The sensation was almost overwhelming him, especially as he had been longing to do exactly that all night long. Eliot needed all his self control not to grab her, hold her tight and kiss her even more firmly. Pulling back eventually was almost impossible.

“Did that feel fake to you?” he wanted to know as he gazed back at her again. Parker stared up at him with huge eyes. She looked surprised at first, but the expression stayed for only a matter of seconds. It was replaced by another one and before he got the chance to wonder whether or not she had understood, her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips found his again.

This kiss was different though, and he didn't hesitate a second to respond to it. It was a deep, passionate kiss that instantly made him forget about everything else. The job and the team, the confusing questions that had been spinning in his mind for a while, and even more since this evening, didn't matter anymore. It was this kiss that answered all open questions, and he was convinced it didn't just answer his. Asking her whether or not she was sure and knew what she was doing didn't even occur to him as she willingly allow him to pull her closer. Her legs instantly wrapped around his waist as he lifted her up into his arms. Not for a single second, they broke the kiss as he carried her over to their bed.

\-------------------

Usually, when Parker woke up, she was fully aware of her surroundings within a matter of seconds. This skill was needed, for the case she had to flee. Always being prepared was something she had learnt throughout the years. It was essential if one had learnt to survive all by themselves, unable to depend on anyone else.

This morning though, Parker struggled to focus as she was greeted by a rush of thoughts that caused her mind to spin. Saying the previous day had been eventful was an understatement. The team had been proud of them for the progresses they had made, but by this time, she couldn't have cared less for their opinion.

Because her thoughts were elsewhere but on the job. She had been shocked by her own behaviour, and the feelings that had appeared and hit her with an overwhelming force. She had been scared of having to dance. But she would have never dared to imagine what it would eventually lead to.

She had been supposed to relax. Eliot had promised to take care of her and the situation. She trusted in him, more than she trusted in anyone else, and so, she had listened to him, had tried to calm down. And it had worked. It had worked a little too well though.

Even now, hours later, Parker hadn't forgotten how she had felt while he had been holding her close. Just for a brief second, she had wanted to give in to the comfortable feelings this closeness was causing deep within her. She had rested her head against his shoulder, had closed her eyes.

And then, it had happened. Parker couldn't really tell what had happened, but she remembered that suddenly, she hadn't been nervous anymore. She had even gotten to the point where everyone else in the room seemed to have disappeared, where the voices of her friends in her ear were unwelcome distractions. She had taken the earbud out by instinct. Because nothing, no one was allowed to interrupt this moment that made her feel so good.

So good. So comfortable. So safe. And it had been so easy. Suddenly, she could let go of the tension that was so much part of her, all the time. Suddenly, she could relax. Because she felt safe in his arms, knowing that he was right there with her, holding her, protecting her, like he always did. She didn't have to be afraid, of anything. Because she wasn't alone anymore. Because he was there.

Parker had regretted her behaviour as soon as she had returned to the present, had remembered where she was. Realisation had hit her, had shocked her. Even though she had never experienced such feelings before, she knew exactly what they meant. They couldn't mean anything else after all. But how could she give in to them so easily? How could she let go of those walls that were supposed to protect her, and let someone in so much? And, even worse, why had she replied to him so quickly when he had said he loved her? She hadn't been wearing her earbud anymore, but very quickly, realisation had hit her that certainly, Sophie had told him to say that. Even though she didn't get why he had said her real name. It had been part of the role though. Why had she responded like that, and why had it felt so right to her?

All those questions had been spinning in her mind, and she hadn't been able to come up with answers for them. Even worse was the fact that what they had been doing had still been part of the job. She was having those feelings now, but what about him? Eliot was good at playing his role. Both, Nate and Sophie, had said so. It was all just a job. A game. Fake. Not real.

Parker knew: in the past, she would have fled in such a situation. She couldn't deal with feelings, especially with those that were new to her, that made her feel so vulnerable and exposed. This time was different though. She couldn't run. It seemed as if her feet were glued to the floor. She had to stay. Had to figure out what was going on.

And she had figured it out. A tiny smile lit her face as she lay in bed, still with her eyes closed. Yes, giving in to her feelings had been risky. But no, it hadn't been wrong. Because something between them had changed. For the both of them.

Opening her eyes eventually, Parker glanced at the man sleeping next to her. Eliot wasn't a talker either. Instead, he had shown to her that there was no need to worry. Not everything was fake, and what she had done hadn't been a mistake either. He had kissed her. Had really kissed her, not the way he did when the Newmans were around. The kiss had made her understand, and eventually, it had given her the courage to go for what she wanted, not just since this evening, since this dance but for quite a while already.

Carefully, she moved closer. She shuddered lightly as she mentally replayed what had happened then. It seemed as if she could still feel his lips on hers, his hands on her body, his bare skin against hers. No, she hadn't made a mistake. Not this time. Because something that could make her feel so good couldn't be wrong.

Parker's smile widened as she studied him more closely. Eliot wasn't asleep anymore either. For a brief moment, she felt the urge to do what she always did in a moment like this. But for once, she didn't want to annoy him with poking. There were other reactions she wanted to see instead.

“I know you're awake,” she decided to say then. “Stop pretending.”

He smiled in response. Like she had hoped, he opened his eyes and gazed up at her. His smile widened as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

“No poking this time?” Eliot asked.

Parker shook her head. “Not this time. Doesn't mean I'll stop though. You're still funny when you get mad at me.”

“And what if I just stopped getting mad at you?”

She chuckled. “You can't. Remember, you're honest to me. Always.”

“Yeah, I am.” His face turned serious again as he studied her in silence. Parker knew she didn't even have to try and figure out what he was thinking: that never worked. Instead, she gazed back in silence, hoping Eliot would eventually tell her what he had in mind.

“Do you want to talk about this?” he asked then. “I mean...us. Last night.”

Parker shrugged. She could feel her cheeks heating up again. Talking about this. How was she supposed to do that? What was she supposed to say? And was there anything they had to talk about in the first place? She couldn't deny she wanted to ask him why he had said her real name when he had said those three words. But this also meant she would have to talk about why she had responded to his words, and right now, she didn't want to do that. One question popped into her mind then.

“What is this now?” she wanted to know. “This thing between us? I mean, are we supposed to be together now? Or was that just for fun?” She hesitated before she said, “Is it a relationship?”

For another couple of moments, Eliot studied her in silence. Then, he shrugged as well. “I guess that's up to us, Parker. We decide what this is. What it isn't. And how we call it.”

Parker nodded slowly. “But if we don't call it 'relationship', does that mean we're just friends again?”

“Is that what you want?” he asked back. “Us just being friends again?”

Before she knew what she was doing, she was already shaking her head. She could feel she was blushing again, but the look he was giving her convinced her that she didn't have to be worried. She trusted in him. Nothing she would say would backfire at her.

“I don't want that either,” Eliot said, much to her relief. “Honestly, I think that wouldn't work anyway. I guess we agree something between us has changed. And you can't really deny feelings. Not if...well, if they're strong like that.”

Parker nodded in agreement. That made sense. “But if we want to be more than just friends, don't we need rules for that? Doesn't it need a name? I mean, Sophie said that she and Nate...”

“We're not Sophie and Nate, Parker,” Eliot interrupted her. “We're us, remember? This is about you and me. We decide what's going on between us.” He paused again, taking a deep breathe before he added, “Listen, Parker, I know this is new for you, and I don't want you to be scared because you think you're going to be pushed into yet another new role, with rules and expectations that just make you nervous again. I want us to be together. More than anything else, okay? And I think we should just do what we want to do. What we think feels right.”

“Like last night,” she stated. They hadn't agreed to kiss, and hadn't agreed to sleep with each other either. It had just happened, because it had felt right to both of them.

“Yeah, like last night.” He nodded in agreement. “Like I said, we're us. We don't have to do stuff the way everyone does it. All that matters is that we're happy with this. With each other.”

Once again, Parker nodded. Actually, that was exactly what she wanted: to enjoy the fact that they were together now. She wanted to enjoy those new feelings, wanted to enjoy this closeness. She wanted to enjoy how safe and comfortable she felt around him, how good it felt to be kissed by him, touched by him. And she didn't want the others to be involved either. This was about them. About no one else.

“When'll Sharon deliver our breakfast?” she asked then, feeling how her stomach growled at the idea of some pancakes.

Eliot shook his head at her, chuckling. “It's still quite early. Guess we have to wait a little longer.”

Parker shrugged. “Fine. Then I want something else.”

“And what might that be?” he wanted to know. He raised his eyebrows at the grin she gave him in response. “Oh, I see.” And before she got a chance to reply, he had flipped her over already and pinned her into the mattress. His face came so close to hers that she could feel his warm breath tickling on her nose.

“That's what you want, yeah?” Eliot asked. “Will make you even hungrier though.”

“But it'll also keep me entertained,” Parker answered, smirking at the way he shuddered as her fingertips brushed over his chest.

“You want me to entertain you?” His grin widened. “Fine.”

And with those words, Eliot kissed her again. Like the previous night, Parker didn't hesitate to give in to the sensation. Yes, it did feel good, and it did feel right. Nothing else mattered.


	7. Chapter 7

That the job would be a challenge for them had been clear to Eliot right from the start. He was still not entirely convinced that Nate and Sophie wouldn't have been able to go in and play their roles better than them. It wasn't the hardest job ever, but by far not their easiest either.

For how exactly said job would turn out he hadn't been prepared though. Things seemed to have gotten complicated rather quickly, as soon as he had realised that indeed, he liked Parker a lot, in a way that had started to confuse him.

Was it possible that he was developing feelings for her? For her of all people? Where would that lead him, and her? What was she thinking of him anyway, and why was she behaving around him the way she did?

All those questions had been spinning in his mind, and had made his confusion even worse. The job itself was difficult enough. Things didn't have to get even more complicated just because of feelings.

It had happened though, and their confrontation from the previous night still made him shudder. He knew very well it could have headed into a very wrong direction if one wrong word had been said.

It hadn't gone wrong though. Obviously, he had found the right words, and gestures, to which Parker had responded, telling him that he had understood her just right. From there, things had been almost impossibly easy.

“How can they always make so much breakfast for us?”

Parker's amazed voice interrupted Eliot in his thoughts. Turning his attention back to her, he found her staring down at her plate, shaking her head in disbelief. She looked adorable when she was so excited, he had to admit. Although he fairly doubted he could ever look at her the way he had in the past ever again. He had gotten to see another side of her the previous night, and again this morning. Said side was new, interesting, and caused a very enjoyable heat deep within him.

“Why are you staring?” Parker raised her eyebrows at him questioningly and he realised he hadn't answered her question yet.

“Nothing,” he stated quickly. “You're right though. Quite a lot of breakfast indeed. Does that mean you're going to give up on cereals now?”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Are you crazy? Never! Nothing beats cereals. Except the stuff you cook maybe, but still I need my cereals for breakfast!”

“Fine.” In amusement, Eliot watched her as she continued to happily munch on her pancakes again. So many times in the past, he had believed that Parker was the most complicated woman he had ever met. For many reasons. She had her crazy sides, and she could be very exhausting with either being hyperactive or blurting out whatever came to her mind in the worst moments.

But for once, she was less complicated than any other woman he knew. Their earlier conversation had gone rather well, and according to the way she was behaving now, she was satisfied with the way he had answered her questions. There was no awkwardness, no confusion. They had agreed they didn't just want to be friends, but wherever things between them would lead was entirely up to them. They didn't need a name for it, or strict rules. They just wanted to be together, whatever that meant. Obviously she was feeling the same way. There was no need for further discussions, for any strange games, for unnecessary back and forth. No 'who calls who first', no 'we have to talk about this'. Whatever was going on seemed to be working on its own right now, and he couldn't thank her enough for that. 

For once, being with her was easier than being with anyone else he knew.

“Oh!” she exclaimed then, startling him back to the present once more. “The earbuds! They're surely going to yell at us again if we don't put them back in, right?”

“Yeah, maybe, but I doubt there's a rush for that,” Eliot answered, needing a moment to clear his mind. The team. They were still part of this as well after all. “We're not even dressed yet.”

Parker gave him a funny look. “So? There are no cameras in them.” With those words, she put her earbud in. Sighing lightly, he did the same.

“Well, good morning the two of you!” Hardison's cheerful voice greeted them. “Kinda late, don't you think? We've been waiting for you guys already.”

“In fact, it's just breakfast time over here,” Parker stated, shoving another piece of pancake into her mouth. “We got a lot to eat!”

“Yeah, just make me jealous,” Hardison sighed playfully. “Eliot, you have to come back finally. Nate's trying to make us breakfast, but...” He paused. “Well, let's say it's just not the same, man.”

“Yeah, Hardison, why don't you just make breakfast yourself next time?” Nate's voice suggested then. Before Hardison got a chance to reply though, he added, “Today's the day. We have to convince Heather that she wants to leave Newman. We've made a lot of steps into the right direction already...”

“Let's just say this,” Hardison interrupted. “Heather's getting it. She's not really been sleeping a lot last night, you know. Has been wandering around the house all night long, looking kinda upset. Guess she's getting that her marriage sucks. Also, she's been sneaking up to your room, too. Upset her even more. What were you guys doing in there?”

Eliot resisted the urge to sigh as Parker grinned. Before she got a chance to speak though, he replied, “No idea. Nothing. So she's been upset you're saying? That's good. Maybe Parker can just talk her into leaving him.”

“Me?” She stared at him in shock.

“Yeah, of course you. Who else? Me maybe?” He shook his head at her, trying not to smirk at the glare she flashed him in response.

“I actually think that's a good idea,” Sophie said then. “Don't worry, Parker. We just have to wait for the right moment and when it's there, I'm going to jump in and help you. You two did amazing so far, but we have to get the job done today.”

“Means you'll have to be around the Newmans even more than usually,” Nate added. “Finish breakfast and then go looking for them. Parker, keep up the 'new best friend' role you've started yesterday.”

“Yeah, sure. Easiest thing I've ever done. Why not?” She shrugged. Looking even more frustrated, she added, “I'll hear you later.” and put the earbud out again.

Sighing, Eliot did the same. “What's the problem?” he wanted to know. “You're not supposed to do anything you haven't done already.”

“It's not that!” Once again, Parker glared at him. “It's the pressure, okay? You heard what they said? We have to get it done today. What if I can't get it done today? I can open safes. I can open whatever lock and trick pretty much every security system. But this...I can't just unlock a woman, you know? I can't just...talk her into leaving her husband. How am I supposed to do that?!”

“Well, you're not alone in this,” he said, unable to deny that he understood where she was coming from. “You got Sophie. She'll tell you what to do.”

“Doesn't change anything.”

He sighed again as she pouted in frustration. Reaching out, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. She didn't tense, didn't hesitate for a second as she leant into him.

“It's all going to be okay,” Eliot tried to encourage her. “You did fantastic yesterday. Remember how you spent so much time with her? Heather likes you. And you heard what Hardison said. She's upset. She's restless because she can't stop thinking about how messed up her marriage is, and what she could have instead. All you have to do is push her into the right direction. Everything else will work just fine.”

“How can you be so sure?” she asked, looking up at him.

He shrugged. “Well, I saw what we're capable of during the last few days. Doubt we're going to mess it up now.”

Parker stared back at him in silence for a couple of moments. Then she nodded slowly. “Funny how this job turned out, right?” she asked him.

“Indeed.” Running a hand through her long hair, Eliot allowed himself to study her for a moment. The more he was thinking about her, the more he started to realise that she wasn't really the most complicated person he knew. She was the most complex one. Understanding how her personality worked wasn't easy and he fairly doubted Parker really understood herself. But if one looked closely, they could see all those layers that made her be the woman she had become with the years.

In silence, she was staring back at him, right into the eyes. He knew they could just keep on sitting like that, looking at each other without things getting strange or complicated. It was the advantage of them being different. Knowing that giving in to his wish to kiss her right now would mess with their plans for the day though, he pulled back and added, “You'd like to shower first?”

“Why don't you join me?” Parker asked back. “It's what you do when you're together, right?”

There was no teasing smirk, no suggestive smile. It was just a question. A true question, which made him want to give in to her wish even more. And so, without saying a further word, they headed for the small room together.

\-------------------

As they left the bedroom, Eliot and Parker realised that the other guests were ready for the day as well, were strolling around the house like they usually did. The Newmans weren't among them though.

“Seems like we got that perfect moment you've been waiting for,” Hardison announced then. “Newman and Heather are having a fight in the drawing room right now.”

“What's it about?” Eliot wanted to know. They had installed a microphone there as well after Parker had left the room in a hurry, without anyone being aware of what had happened.

“Seems like she asked him why he's spending so much time with arranging parties for people he doesn't even know but doesn't have time for spending a nice, long weekend with her,” Hardison recapped. “He doesn't get her, and she's mad at him because of it.”

“That's your chance,” Nate said. “Go to the drawing room and interrupt them. Eliot, you'll try to lure Newman out of the room and Parker, you'll stay with Heather.”

Parker resisted the urge to sigh. She couldn't deny the nervousness Nate's word instantly caused deep within her, but she also knew that nothing she could say would change anything. A fight would probably be a good chance to do what Sophie wanted her to do: convince Heather that the world out there was better than what she had right now.

Her nervousness was eased a little as Eliot wrapped an arm around her waist, guiding her towards the room in question. Parker knew he believed in her, was convinced that they would do just fine. Because so far, they had done great. And the faster they got this job done, the faster they could leave.

The hint of a smile lit her face as she imagined what that would mean. Maybe he could talk Nate into giving them a few days off. They deserved that after all. Then, Parker would make sure not to wear her earbud at all. She would also try to sneak into Eliot's apartment. Certainly, he wouldn't send her away now that they were together.

Not that she would mind to be alone with herself for a while either. Being alone was something she was used to, something that usually helped her to calm down. By now, she had learnt that being around a person one cared for was even better than being alone though. At least then, they wouldn't be in a hurry with anything, because no one was waiting for them to put their earbuds in and get a job done.

With this prospect in mind, Parker almost missed the moment when Eliot let her and himself into the drawing room. A heated argument greeted them, which stopped as soon as the couple inside became aware of their presence.

“Oh, excuse us for just coming in here,” Eliot said in a faked surprised voice. Parker couldn't tell whether he just pretended to look uncomfortable or really felt that way. “Maybe we should...”

“There's no need to leave,” Newman said, instantly putting on the professional smile they knew so well by now. “We're done here anyway.” He rolled his eyes. “Women. Always in need of a discussion. I think I'm in a need of a drink now. Why don't you join me, Mr. Cole?”

Eliot just nodded in response. This part of their plan seemed to work easier than expected. As Parker turned her attention to Heather after the two men had closed the door behind them though, her nervousness increased instantly. Indeed, she had spent hours alone with this woman already, and she couldn't deny that talking to her had even been nice at times. Right now, said woman couldn't look more miserable though.

“Don't worry, Parker,” Sophie's voice said softly. “You're going to comfort her now, but I'll tell you what to say.”

Parker nodded lightly. “Are you...alright?” she forced herself to say then.

Snapping out of whatever thoughts she had been in, Heather looked up. She stared back at Parker in silence. As the urge to break the eye contact and look away got unbearable though, the woman eventually sighed.

“I'm supposed to smile now, right?” she asked, in a low, thick voice. She chuckled before she added, “Yeah, that's been my job since I was a little girl. Just keep on smiling. All the time. Don't look upset, Heather. You're supposed to find a nice, rich husband one day, Heather. And then you'll just be his status symbol which he can show off with. Just keep on smiling, Heather. No one gives a damn for your feelings anyway.” Groaning, she hid her face in her hands, shaking her head.

Wordlessly, Parker made her way over to the couch Heather was sitting on. Sitting down across of her, she studied the upset woman. The sight still made her feel uncomfortable, in a different way though. Heather was hurting: that was obvious. Parker herself didn't know much about relationships. She hadn't forgotten what Sophie had said in the beginning though. Heather was stuck in a marriage which her parents had arranged for her. She hadn't gotten the chance to look for a fitting husband herself. Instead, she was with a man who didn't care, who made fun of his wife although she was so clearly unhappy.

No one cared. This was a feeling Parker understood. Heather felt lonely, because she didn't have anyone who realised what she was going through, how she was suffering every single day. Watching the woman in front of her, Parker understood why Sophie had wanted to help her so badly. No one should feel that way. Everyone should be allowed to make their own decisions and be happy. Right now, she understood that better than ever.

“You're not happy at all, are you?” Parker asked before Sophie could speak up.

Heather snorted. “Happy? I don't even know what that's like!” She sighed again. “Tell me, Alice, why did you marry your husband? Because you love him, right? And because he loves you. I didn't have this choice. My parents and his parents wanted us to get married. They arranged it for us. Because he's coming from a rich family, just like me. Feelings? Who cares for feelings? I'm allowed to live in a big, pretty manor, I can spend as much money on useless stuff as I want. Why am I complaining then? Why am I unhappy? I'm living every girl's dream after all!”

“But...why don't you break up with him?” Parker asked, following Sophie's instructions.

“Because I can't,” Heather stated. “I can't just break up with him. My family will go crazy. So will his. It'll cause a war! Marriages like ours have to continue, no matter what. Scandals aren't allowed to happen.”

“But what if your husband is the one who's responsible for the real scandal?” Parker wanted to know. At Heather's surprised look, she repeated Sophie's words and said, “My husband has spent quite a lot of time with yours. I'm fairly sure you know that what he's doing isn't...really okay that way.”

Heather laughed sarcastically. “Not okay that way? Of course it's not! You have no idea what horrible stuff he's doing to stay that rich and mighty! He's just like his father. And the worst is that he really believes I'm stupid enough to not be aware of what he's doing. Of all the people he's betraying.”

Parker nodded. “Then why don't you make him pay for what he's been doing to you?”

Heather's eyes widened. “What do you have in mind?”

Parker shrugged. She listened closely to Sophie before she spoke. “Well, you know what's going on behind the scenes. The police would certainly be happy to have a witness like you. You could tell them that you have evidence that your husband is involved in criminal activities and tell them everything they need to know. They'd take care of your husband then. You'll see, your family will be more than happy if you get rid of this man then. After all, who wants to deal with scandals, right? And if they ask you why you went to the police...just say you were scared he'd drag you in as well, and so you acted first before he could cause trouble for you.”

Heather stared back at her in a mix of shock and curiosity. Parker resisted the urge to wince. She had said what Sophie had told her to, but she had also heard how Nate had told her not to say too much. If Heather knew about her husband's business, she wasn't stupid.

“Why are you really here?” Heather wanted to know then, studying Parker so closely that she could feel her nervousness return. “Why are you and your husband here? Certainly not to become friends with Michael. Are you cops?”

“No!” Parker answered quickly. Listening to Sophie once again, she added, “We're here because there are people out there who care for you, Heather. People who want you to be happy and think you shouldn't just make your husband pay for the way he's treated you during all those years but who also think that you should leave him behind.” She paused for a moment before she continued, this time on her own. “I...know what it's like to be alone and to think you don't matter to anyone. But I learnt what it's like when you have people around you who care. Who like you a lot. Everyone should be allowed to feel this way.”

“That was good,” Sophie complimented her. “Now tell her this...”

Parker smiled as she gave the hint of a nod and added, “Cathy's sending greetings for you.”

“Cathy?” Heather gasped. “My...Cathy?”

“Your friend.” Parker nodded. “She asked us to help you realise that you shouldn't be stuck in such a marriage. Cathy understood that you're unhappy and suffering, and she asked us to offer you a way out. That's why we're here. To do exactly that for you.”

Heather, still overwhelmed and shocked, stared ahead in silence for another long minute. “Cathy,” she repeated once again. “She really came to you because she...wants to help me?”

Parker nodded. “Because she cares. And so, we worked on a plan to get you out. Said plan I just offered to you. All you have to do is call the police. Look at all the rich guys that are here. It'll be a party for them! Get your stuff together, tell the cops where they can find the evidence and leave.”

“No.” Heather shook her head. “No, I'm not going to leave. I'll stay here. I'll wait for them and hand the evidence over to them personally. In front of Michael and all his new friends.” A smile lit her face then, while the first tears were rising in her eyes. “He never cared for me. Not at all. Whenever I tried to approach him, to remind him of the fact that I'm here, too, he just brushed me off. Because I'm a crazy woman, you know? A woman who wants attention from her husband while he has better things to take care of.” Once more, she shook her head. “No, I'm going to stay here. I'll call the police. You and your husband should go though, Alice. You shouldn't be dragged into this.”

Parker hesitated. “That's okay,” Sophie told her quickly. “The two of you get out of there. But first, do this...”

“Alright,” Parker said, to both, her friend and Heather. “Call the State Police and ask for Captain Bonanno. Say that Nate Ford told you to call him. And then, after you got out, go to this place.” She reached for a near piece of paper and quickly wrote the address down. “Everything's going to be alright,” she added.

Heather just nodded. “Thank you,” was all she said.

“Alright, you two,” Nate said then. “Get out of there.”

Offering another brief smile for Heather, Parker got up. Her heart was hammering hard in her chest as she hurried out of the drawing room and back to the bedroom. As she pushed the door open, she realised Eliot had already arrived and was tossing their belongings back into their suitcases.

“How are they supposed to get out of there unseen though?” Hardison wanted to know. “We didn't pack Parker's stuff so they could jump out of the window, and they can't just walk out of the manor unseen.”

“We can still jump,” Parker said, quickly making her way over to the panorama window. Pushing it open, she smiled. “It's the first floor, remember? We can jump.”

“Are you sure?” Stepping next to her, Eliot raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Parker nodded. “You trust in me, don't you?” As he nodded, she added, “We can do it. After all, there's meadow below, no concrete.”

He stared back at her for a moment. Then he nodded. “Okay. If you say so.”

“Good,” Nate said. “We're on our way to pick you up. Don't hurry too much, we have to time our arrival at the gate with yours.”

Eliot responded to the mastermind's words, but Parker didn't listen. Instead, her attention turned back to the bedroom. A lot had happened in here. A lot had changed, and she couldn't deny that for a moment, she almost felt sad.

“Are you okay?” Eliot's voice interrupted her in her thoughts.

“Um...yeah,” she answered. “It's just...well, it was nice to be here.”

“Yeah, it was,” he agreed. “But there are other nice places we can go to.” Stepping closer, he whispered into her ear, “And going back doesn't change anything, you know.”

Parker only nodded in response. She didn't need to hear more to understand what he was referring to.

Taking their time with packing wasn't easy though. They had to wait for quite a while until Nate gave them the go to leave the manor. Their suitcases went over the railing of the balcony first.

“You're not scared to jump, right?” Parker asked as she noticed Eliot's hesitant expression.

“Of course not.” He paused. “Maybe I should jump first, so I can catch you.”

She snorted. “I don't need to be caught. Not from up here. I could catch you though, if you like.”

“Yeah, for sure.” He rolled his eyes at her.

Parker chuckled. “Why don't we do it together then?” Carefully, she climbed over the railing. He followed her example. Her smile widened as he instinctively grabbed her hand. Firmly.

“At three?” he asked.

“No.” Parker grinned. “Now!”

And with those words, she jumped, pulling him with her. Their landing didn't go as perfect as she had planned, but, like she had expected, neither of them got injured either.

“Come on now, let's hurry,” Eliot ordered. Still holding hands, it was now him who was dragging her across the meadow. Running in her fine clothes and shoes, along with the suitcase, wasn't easy, but the mental image of how they had to look like to others made Parker giggle.

By the time they finally arrived at the stony path that led to the entrance gate, they realised that the State Police had just shown up as well, with Bonanno taking the lead. He raised an eyebrow as he recognized them.

“I guess the people in question are inside?” he asked.

They nodded in response and Parker couldn't suppress another giggle, caused by the way the cop shook his head at them. As quickly as possible, they made their way back to the entrance gate.

“Fantastic timing,” Eliot stated as they left the manor behind and were greeted by Nate's car this time instead of the limousine that had brought them to this place a few days ago. He opened the door to the back seats and let Parker in before he joined her as well. Nate took off instantly.

“You did it!” Sophie greeted them with a bright smile as she turned around. The smile widened as she added, “Didn't I tell you that you'd be able to get this job done? You did it so well. Thanks to you, Heather can finally escape this idiot now.”

“Yeah.” Nate studied them through the rare view mirror, raising an eyebrow. “The plan worked perfectly, didn't it?”

Neither Sophie nor Eliot and Parker replied to that. Instead, they leant back against the seats, allowing themselves a moment to appreciate that they had done well with their job, and could finally head back home. Both of them were aware of the fact that they were still holding hands, but whether or not their friends would notice that didn't matter. It just felt right, like everything else they had done during this weekend.


	8. Chapter 8

“So you set all this up to help me?” Heather asked, shaking her head in disbelief. It hadn't taken her more than a few hours to show up at McRory's bar, with not more than a suitcase. The team and Cathy had already been awaiting her.

“I always knew you weren't happy with him,” Cathy said. “I just couldn't handle seeing you like that any longer. You've wasted so many years with this idiot. I knew you wouldn't just leave him though. Because of your family and because of what a break up would cause. So I had to find another way to help you.”

Sophie nodded to emphasize the woman's words. “Exactly, and with her wish to help you, she came to us. We set up a plan to help you with finding a way out that would actually work and at the same time make your husband pay for what he's done to you and all those other innocent people out there.”

Heather nodded slowly. Her confusion and surprise were obvious. “I still can't believe this,” she admitted. “A few days ago, I was just his wife, and I had gotten to the point where I thought it'd stay like that forever. And now? I'm sitting here, Michael's going to jail most likely, and everything's different.”

Sophie nodded. “Yes, everything's different. You're no longer going to be trapped in this marriage. It's your chance to move on and do something else with yourself. There are so many things you can do. It's entirely up to you what you want to do next.”

Heather nodded again. Still in disbelief, she stared ahead for another couple of moments. “That means everything was completely set up by you?” she asked then.

“Yes,” Nate answered. “We came up with a background story for Eliot and Parker and send them in. To convince you that there is in fact a way out.”

“So everything you've said was just a story?” Heather wanted to know. “That you took over your father's company, and that you worked at a library where the two of you met?”

Eliot nodded. “That was all Sophie's work. We aren't married either.”

“They aren't even dating,” Hardison added.

At those words, Heather raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?” Her eyes darted to the couple in front of her, taking them in for a couple of moments. The hint of a smirk lit her face before she turned back to Nate and added, “Thank you so much, Mr. Ford, for investing so much into helping me to find a way out. And you...” She turned to Cathy, guilt flickering in her eyes now. “I've...”

“Don't even get started,” Cathy interrupted her. “It's what friends do. I know things haven't always been easy between us, but that never changed the fact that you've always been my best friend.”

“What are you going to do now?” Parker wanted to know. “We can pack you a bag with everything you need if you want to run.”

Heather chuckled. “I don't think running is really what I have in mind.” She paused. “I have to admit I don't really know what to do. Facing my family isn't really anything I'm looking forward to at the moment.”

“Well, why don't you stay with me for a while?” Cathy suggested. “And take your time to decide where you want to go from here. You're free, keep that in mind. You can take whatever direction you want. And don't look at me like that! I've started all this with going to Mr. Ford. Now you'll have to deal with me helping you through it. I won't accept a 'no' anyway.”

Heather just chuckled in response. For another couple of moments, she stared back at her friend before she wrapped her arms around Cathy in a tight embrace. It was the most honest thing she had done since Eliot and Parker had met the Newmans for the first time. No longer she was wearing that faked, emotionless mask. Instead, she was able to show a true smile, and honest tears.

Heather and Cathy stayed for another hour until they left. Stories were exchanged, but the job itself didn't come up again. By the time the two women left, the bar had already cleared as well. Only the team was left, in silence allowing themselves a moment to enjoy the fact that once again, their plan had worked just perfectly.

The silence was more than welcome in Sophie's opinion. She used her chance to take in her team mates. Nate was staring into the half-filled glass in front of him. He wasn't lost in his thoughts though, but fully aware of his surroundings. Hardison looked a little tired: Sophie couldn't blame the hacker, who had spent so many hours with his earbud in, his eyes focused on the large screens to see what was going on at the manor.

Eliot and Parker seemed to be miles away already. Although they were trying their best to not appear that way, Sophie could see it not only in their eyes but in their entire body language. Of course she still didn't have a real proof, any evidence that her theory was right, but she didn't need one. She was entirely convinced that things between those two hadn't just changed but that something had happened that had made them cross the line between friendship and more. Gestures and exchanged looks said more than words, and for now, that was enough for Sophie. Especially as she was convinced that Nate had noticed the change in their friends' behaviour as well.

“To a well done job,” Nate said then, interrupting the group in their thoughts. Lifting his glass, he added, “And to love.”

The others followed his example. They stayed silent for a couple of more moments until Hardison released a deep sigh.

“Guess what I'm going to do now?” he asked. “Sleep for the next few days and only get up to eat and drink. I've spent days with staring at screens and keeping that earbud in, man.”

Nate nodded. “I think we all deserve a few days off.”

Parker yawned. “Sounds good.” She moved to get up. “Home is calling. Think I'm going to leave now if you don't mind.”

“Sleep well, Parker,” Sophie said, offering a warm smile. She didn't miss the glance her friend exchanged briefly with Eliot before she left the bar. She also didn't miss the way he stared at the closed door, for not more than a couple of seconds, before he turned his attention back to the team.

“I'm going to head home, too,” he stated then. “Have a good night everyone.”

And with those words, he left the bar as well, closely followed by Hardison, leaving Nate and Sophie behind in the bar, once again in silence.

“To good plans,” Sophie said then, studying her boyfriend closely. Still staring at his glass, Nate shook his head. A tiny chuckle escaped him before he looked up eventually.

“You're convinced your real plan worked, aren't you?” he wanted to know.

Sophie smiled back at him. “Do you seriously still believe it didn't?”

Nate sighed. “Fine, you won. But that still doesn't explain why you did this in the first place.”

“Why I did this?” It was Sophie's turn to shake her head. “Well, because I know from own experience how hard it is for some people to notice what's right in front of them. It took us ages to get to where we're at now, Nate. I didn't want them to do it the same way. I decided to give them a little push into the right direction. A push that would open their eyes. And look, it worked. No dancing around each other for years.”

“Wasn't that the fun though?” Nate asked back.

“Sometimes, yes,” Sophie answered quietly. “But after a while, you start to wonder if that's everything you'll ever get. You start to look elsewhere because you're getting tired of this game. Of this confusion. Of those feelings. If you wait too long...”

“Did I wait too long?” Nate wanted to know.

“Almost,” Sophie said. “Almost, Nate.” She took a sip of her own drink, gently placing a hand on his arm. “But that doesn't matter anymore. And it also doesn't matter that getting Eliot and Parker together was part of my plan, too. It worked, and that's all I care for.”

Nate didn't reply this time. But one look into his eyes was enough for Sophie to know that he agreed with her.

\-----------------

Coming home had felt as relieving as Eliot had expected it to. Silence greeted him. There weren't rich, chatting people around. Instead, he found himself surrounded by his own apartment. Finally, he didn't have to play a role anymore. Finally, he could just be himself again, without having to watch his words, without preparing what he'd have to say next, without knowing that a job had to be done.

But despite the relief he felt at the realisation that he was back, that the job was done, he wasn't as happy as he had expected himself to be. Something was missing, and he didn't have to think twice to become aware of what exactly that was.

He couldn't blame Parker for her wish to return to her warehouse as quickly as possible. For days, she had been stuck in a world that was so different to everything she knew. For days, she had to play a role, too, and for her, that had come close to a nightmare, more than once.

She had done well: there was absolutely no way to deny that. But doing something well didn't mean doing it felt good. Those days had been difficult and exhausting for her, in more than one way.

Because apart from the role she had to play, she also had to deal with an entirely new situation between herself and him. With feelings that were new to her, that had been confusing her.

She would need some time off to relax, to sort her thoughts and calm down. Eliot understood that very well. Still, understanding her didn't change the fact that he was missing her already: a fact that amazed him. They had crossed the line between being just friends and more. They had decided that they wanted to be together. He had fallen in love with her. But how much she really meant to him by now still took him by surprise. Yes, he missed her. A lot. He wanted her to be at his place. He wanted to share his bed with her tonight, like he had the previous nights as well.

Deciding that he couldn't really change the situation at the moment, he chose to take a shower instead. But the warm, soothing water didn't help. The thoughts stayed. So did the feelings. He had gotten used to having her around all the time, and something deep within him had hoped that it'd stay that way, even though he would never admit that. He loved to be alone, needed his distance to the team. But Parker wasn't just a team mate anymore. She wasn't just a friend. She was more. Much more.

The second Eliot left his bathroom again though, he knew something was different. He could feel her presence before he saw her. He didn't bother to suppress the feelings this realisation caused. She had found her way into his heart. There was no way to deny that.

“I thought you wanted to go your warehouse,” he said. Parker was standing in the middle of his living room, staring back at him in silence. The sight reminded him of the previous night. Mind and heart were battling again. The job was over. They weren't playing a married couple anymore, and even though he had assured her that the job being done didn't mean anything between them would change, she still seemed to be afraid of that. She wanted to say something, wanted to voice her thoughts and feelings, and once again, she was incapable of doing so.

“Do you want me to leave?” she asked quietly.

Eliot shook his head. “No. Of course not. I didn't say that. I'm just surprised you're here. Because you said you wanted to go to your warehouse.”

“I didn't say that either,” she stated. Parker struggled for a moment before she added, “I just said I wanted to go home.”

This time, he didn't know what to reply to her statement. It was just an answer to his question, but he was well aware of the meaning behind it. Slowly, he made his way over to her until only inches were separating them. She didn't back off, didn't even try to break the eye contact. Instead, she stared back at him in silence, waiting for any kind of reaction from him. He was amazed by her behaviour, knowing very well how much self control, how much strength it cost her to do that.

“I'm glad you came over,” Eliot finally managed to say. “Because I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” she admitted. Parker hesitated again, before she continued, “I think I want to give it a name now.”

“Yeah?” he asked back quietly. “Means you want to be in a relationship with me? Maybe tell the others as well?”

She nodded. “You want that as well?”

He smiled at her words. “What do you think, huh?”

And with those words, Eliot pulled Parker closer, kissing her in response. More words weren't needed. There was nothing to discuss, and nothing to hide either. Being back in the real word had proven to them what both had been secretly aware of already. They wanted to be in a relationship. A relationship they wouldn't hide in front of their friends or anyone else. What had started as a job had taken an unexpected turn and had made them realise that what they really wanted was right in front of them.


End file.
